Dalit feminism
Dalit women primarily live in South Asia, mainly in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.
They have addressed conferences, created organizations and helped elect other Dalit women into political office.
[5] Certain types of forced prostitution such as the devadasi or jogini system are reserved specifically for Dalit women.
[11] The police may show up when a Dalit women reports a violent attack, but they may not investigate or take action to hold the perpetrator responsible.
[12] Sexual violence against Dalit women is considered "a regular and routine phenomenon of oppression," according to Kiran Kumar Boddu and Siva Nagaiah Bolleddu, writing in the English Studies International Research Journal.
[15] In Nepal, a study conducted in 2013 found that 50.6% of Dalit women faced daily forms of violence, including physical and sexual abuse.
[19] Feminist academics in India have also ignored the caste issues that Dalit women faced.
[22] These early organizations helped pass resolutions against issues such as child marriage, dowries and enforced widowhood.
[24] Mainstream feminist thought in India during the 1980s and 1990s began to recognize issues surrounding caste.
[33] Despite the clause being dropped, international coverage meant that discrimination based on caste was finally globally recognized.
[37] The Hague conference not only addressed violence against Dalit women, but also discussed their own identities and created a sense of group solidarity.
[7] By 2010, FEDO had around 40,000 members and worked to send Dalit children to school and provide training and classes for adults.
[44] Dalit women in Pakistan are less subject to caste issues, but because most are part of a minority religion in the country, they are persecuted because of their religious backgrounds.
[47] In the present day, activists such as Ruth Manorama work on legal and political actions to empower Dalit women.
[51] AIDMAM presented testimonies of gender and caste-based violence at the 38th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2018.
[53] Dalit women's writing brings issues of caste identity to feminist literature.
[56] Prominent women writers of Dalit literature in the Telugu language include Challapalli Swaroopa Rani, Joopaka Subhadra, Jajula Gowri, Swathy Margaret and Gogu Shyamala.
[57] These writers have primarily used poetry, short stories, essays and more to challenge the intersectional forms of oppression they faced.
