Dalit women and political space: Status and issues related to their participation
Nidhi Sadana SABHARWAL
This paper presents evidence on similarities and differences in the problems faced by women belonging to the scheduled caste and rest of the women in India and the status of their political participation which is generally recognized as an instrument towards achieving positive policy outcomes representative of each group. The findings suggest that like all women these women also suffer subordination resulting from patriarchy within the family, at places of work, and in society. Like their poor counterparts in the rest of the female groups, they also suffer from lack of access to income earning assets, education and resultant high poverty. However, Dalit women differ from rest of the women in so far as their performance with regard to human development indicators is lower compared to rest of the women. Moreover, a glance at political participation of scheduled-caste women indicates unequal representation vis-à-vis non-scheduled caste women and vis-à-vis scheduled-caste men in the parliament. This heightened deprivation can be attributed to social exclusion. Social exclusion and discrimination of these groups results from their cultural identity, which the rest of the women do not face. It is this “exclusion – induced deprivation” which differentiates excluded women from the rest of the women. Thus, excluded women are not 'just like' the rest of the women. They are also disadvantaged by who they are. They suffer from social exclusion which deprives them of choices and opportunities to escape from poverty and denies them a voice to claim their rights. There is a close inter-face between patriarchy and social exclusion which enforce each other. The women from discriminated groups suffer from multiple layers of deprivation – gender, poverty and social exclusion. Therefore the problem requires a dual solution – first, the policies against gender discrimination and poverty for all women and second, complimentary policy measure against social exclusion and discrimination for women who belong to excluded groups. A comprehensive gender policy in India has yielded visible improvements in school, higher education enrolment and space in local governance. Remedies against social exclusion of scheduled caste women in multiple spheres, such as exchanges in various markets and in supply of services through non-market agencies in education, health services, food security schemes, housing and governance are severely lacking. This would indeed demand group-specific gender policies, in addition to the general policy of women’s empowerment, to address the voices of women from excluded groups.
Nidhi Sadana SABHARWAL
Principal Research Fellow - Gender and Social Exclusion, Indian Institute of Dalit Studies
Related works:
(1) Nidhi Sadana Sabharwal, 2009, ‘Discrimination and Children’s Nutritional Status in India’, IDS Bulletin, Vol 40 Number 4, July, 2009.
(2) Nidhi Sadana Sabharwal, 2009, ‘Caste and Ownership of Private Enterprises’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol XLIV No 23, June 6, 2009
(3) Nidhi Sadana Sabharwal, 2006, ‘Rural Non-farm Employment of the Scheduled Castes: A Comparative Study’, Working Paper Series (Vol. 1 No.05), Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi.
Nidhi Sadana Sabharwal is the Principal Research Fellow in Gender and Social Exclusion Studies, at the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi. She has a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, with a specialisation in economic geography, and has significant experience in social development and inclusion, inequalities in nutritional levels of children across social groups, caste and economic discrimination, incidence of child labour and caste and gender inter-face. She has extensive experience in data collection and analysis and in advocacy/influencing policy actions. Nidhi has published several articles on socioeconomic issues in rural India, many focusing on the vulnerable sections of society and has actively worked on key issues affecting the poor and vulnerable in India, through organisations based in India and the UK.