Discrimination Against Dalit Women: Observations from India

Difference among the people is potential enough to create differences and the distance from difference to discrimination is not far away. The discrimination of socially and economically vulnerable groups as Dalit's is quite unfair and oppressive discrimination. India is a multi cultural, multi linguistic and multi religious country and diversity is the basic and fundamental nature of nation. Therefore, acceptance and inclusion of every social groups is part of social justice and human rights. While approaching towards the issues of dalit women; they called as ‘Dalits of Dalits’, ‘Thrice Dalits’. The discrimination towards dalit women process in triple ways: discrimination through caste, class and gender. This paper attempts to analyse the social situation of dalit women in India. Government of India has enacted legislations to prevent discriminatory practices like Anti-discriminatory measures include the enactment of the Untouchability Offence Act, 1955 (renamed as the Protection of Civil Rights Act [PCR] in 1976), and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities (POA) Act, 1989, social discriminations still hunting throughout the life of dalit women. This paper suggests that anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practices may bring changes in the society.