IDSN Chair nominated for ‘Secularist of the year 2018 award’

IDSN Executive Chair and DSN-UK Director, Meena Varma, has been shortlisted for a ‘Secularist of the year 2018 award’ by the The National Secular Society in the UK . The award ‘recognises a campaigner or group for an outstanding contribution to the secularist movement’. The NSS’s council of management selected the shortlist from nominations which were submitted by its […]

|Categories: Human Rights Defenders, Solidarity Networks|Tags: |

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Urgent Appeal: Dalit activists brutally assaulted, arrested and detained by police

Human Rights Defenders’ Alert India have issued the following urgent appeal: Urgent Appeal for Action – Kerala: Dalit activists brutally assaulted, arrested and detained by police for seeking action on encroachment of public property in Kochi, Kerala  Status of Human Rights Defender: The Chairman of Samara Munnani, C.S. Murali (also President of Kerala Dalit Masabha) and Penpillai Orumai, were injured. Among them were […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Human Rights Defenders, India, Violence and atrocities|Tags: |

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Indian budget falls far short on allocations for Dalits

Approximately one fourth of India’s population consists of Dalits and Adivasis, and they are supposed to receive budget allocations according to their numbers. IDSN member, The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, has released a comprehensive analysis of the 2018 budget. But yet again, these groups have been let down […]

|Categories: India|Tags: |

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Dalit Women Speak Out conference – forming a collective for resistance

The December 2017 Dalit Women Speak Out conference in Pune, India, was a celebration of Dalit women power and resistance and a platform from which to map out new strategies and strengthen the collective force. The conference presented an open and free space for over 400 Dalit women from across India to speak their mind and discuss how best […]

|Categories: Dalit Women, Human Rights Defenders, India, Political Participation|Tags: |

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Report: Dalit women in Bangladesh – Access to Economic Rights (BDERM/UN Women, 2018)

The report Dalit women in Bangladesh – Access to Economic Rights was launched by IDSN member the Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Movement with support from UN Women Report. Below are the report conclusions: The study has found the practice of patriarchy in Dalit society at extreme level. […]

|Categories: Bangladesh, Dalit Women|Tags: |

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Dalit human rights defenders take part in the EU-NGO Rights Forum

The EU-NGO Human Rights Forum took place in Brussels from 5-6 December with the participation of Dalit human rights defenders, who formed part of an IDSN delegation to the forum. The theme of the forum was “Human rights under threat: Exploring new approaches in a challenging global context.” Forum participants and speakers included human rights defenders, EU officials and NGO […]

|Categories: European Union, Human Rights Defenders|Tags: |

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Amnesty International: Dalit human rights defenders face serious risk

A new report released by Amnesty International paints a grim picture of the situation for human rights defenders across the globe who face death, persecution and harassment for carrying out human rights work.  The report raises particular concern for Dalit human rights defenders in India. “In India, those advocating for the rights of ethnic and religious minorities and against caste-based […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Human Rights Defenders, India, South Asia|Tags: |

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European Parliament report urges EU to step up action on caste discrimination

In its 2017 Report on the “Annual Report on human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union’s policy on the matter” the European Parliament (EP) calls for an EU policy on caste discrimination and urges the EU and its Member States to, “intensify efforts and support related initiatives at UN and delegation level by implementing and […]

|Categories: European Union|Tags: |

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Young Dalit activists speak out at the UN Minority Forum on youth and inclusion

Young Dalit activists played an active role at the 2017 Forum on Minority Issues, which took place in Geneva from 30 November to 1 December. Dalit women from Nepal and India, forming part of an IDSN delegation, gave powerful presentations under the theme of Minority youth: towards diverse and inclusive societies. They explained to participants how deeply ingrained caste-based […]

|Categories: India, Nepal, United Nations|Tags: |

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Conference brings together hundreds of Dalit women to speak out and transform their future

The #dalitwomenspeakout conference takes place in Pune, India, on the 19-20 December and is aimed at facilitating Dalit women activism and offering a space for solidarity and collaboration between Dalit women. The main aim of the conference is to offer an unmediated space for Dalit women to discuss, learn and form a collective platform to transform their future. The […]

|Categories: Dalit Women, India|Tags: |

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