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Intersectional Discrimination: Understanding the Indian Perspective

    Home blog Intersectional Discrimination: Understanding the Indian Perspective
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    Intersectional Discrimination: Understanding the Indian Perspective

    By Shonottra Kumar | Caste and Law, Women | Comments are Closed | 25 August, 2020 | 0

    By Shonottra Kumar

    Image Source: Thenmozhi Soundararajan/#DalitWomenFight

    What is Intersectionality?

    Kimberle Crenshaw, a lawyer and civil rights activist, uses the case of Emma Degraffenreid v. General Motors Assembly Division (1976) to explain how discrimination against women does not exist in silos. It is often seen to be overlapping with other forms of discrimination and in order to address this problem, the same needs to be looked at holistically. 

    In this case, five African American women sued General Motors for discrimination on the basis of gender and race. The Court held that women as secretaries in that company were not discriminated against on account of their gender and even disproved the charges of racial discrimination as the company employed African American men as workers too. The Court looked at the two charges of gender and racial discriminations separately and did not consider the possibility of women of colour being discriminated on more than one ground together.  

    The experience of being discriminated against owing to your association with more than one identity was coined by Crenshaw, as ‘intersectionality’. A term which has in the recent past become viral explores the complex and cumulative ways in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination combine, overlap or intersect. 

    Intersectionality in India

    This phenomenon of intersectional discrimination is found in India as well and largely on the receiving end of it are Dalit women. Being trapped in a highly caste-based patriarchal society, marginalisation of these women not only happen on the basis of gender but also on account of social discrimination against Dalits. 

    These multiple layers of discrimination combine and increase the vulnerability of Dalit women. Their experiences create a chain of never-ending violence on different levels. These levels start from the first instance of violence that occurs on them be it either verbal, physical or sexual violence. It then proceeds to difficulties with the police in filing complaints against upper-caste perpetrators and eventually lack of judicial action against the said perpetrators.

    A study conducted by International Dalit Solidarity Network on 500 Dalit women from across India who experience violence shows that 62.4% of them have faced one or more incidents of verbal abuse, 54.8% have faced physical assault, 46.8 % had faced sexual harassment and assault, 43% of them faced domestic violence and 23.2% were victims of rape. Fearing further discrimination at the hands of police or lack of judicial action, many of these cases go unreported and hence it is difficult to ascertain the true magnitude of this problem. 

    Other reports show that only 1% of the cases filed by Dalit women have actually ended in convictions and the conviction rate for rapes against Dalit women is below 2%, whereas the conviction rate of rape cases filed by all other women in the country is about 27%.

    Even the kinds of violence that Dalit women are subject to are horrific and atrocious. They face extreme filthy verbal abuse, naked parading, dismemberment, being forced to drink urine and eat faeces, branding, proclaiming witchcraft and murdering them for it, etc. 

    Being forced into the devadasi system, rape threats and sexual assaults by the members of upper castes and even from members of their own communities make up a fair percentage of the violence as well. 

    Laws for protection from intersectional discrimination?

    It is true that India has a varied set of laws when it comes to providing safeguards to women and prosecuting crimes committed against them. But the drawbacks in understanding the multiple layers of discrimination has often resulted in continued persecution of Dalit women. 

    The present legal framework includes the Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 that provides certain safeguards to women belonging to these categories. It makes it a crime to intentionally touch a woman belonging to a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe, with sexual intent and without her consent. 

    Using words, acts or gestures of sexual nature towards these women is also a punishable offence. Further, knowing the history of ‘slut-shaming’ a woman to justify her sexual assault, this law explicitly spells out that the woman’s sexual history, even with the offender, is not to be used to imply consent or to mitigate the crime in any way.  

    Despite these protections being in place, there is still an overwhelming amount of stigma associated with just being women of lower castes that hampers their access to justice. For there to be any visible change from this, due importance must be given to the intersectional perspective. It is only when you attempt to understand how caste and gender discrimination interact, only then will you be able to suggest effective solutions to this problem. 


    Shonottra Kumar is a Research Fellow at Nyaaya. Views are personal.

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    Andhra Pradesh

    Girl Child Protection Scheme

    The Girl Child Protection Scheme is aimed at preventing gender discrimination by empowering and protecting rights of girl children through direct investment from the State Government. It provides a number of incentives to promote the empowerment of the girl child:

    • In case of a single girl child she is entitled to receive Rs.1.00 lakh after completion of 20 years of age.
    • In case of two girl children, both of them are entitled to receive Rs.30,000/- each, after completion of 20 years age.
    • Both “single girl child” and “two girl children” are entitled to receive Rs1,200/- per annum as scholarship from 9th class to 12th class (including ITI course) during their period of study, as a benefit under the scheme.

    More information on this scheme can be found here.

    Bangaru Thalli Scheme

    Bangaru Thalli is a welfare scheme for girls launched by Government of Andhra Pradesh. The scheme supports the family of a girl from her birth till her graduation. All the Below Poverty Line white card holders are eligible for the scheme.

    Details of the scheme can be found in the Andhra Pradesh Bangaru Thalli Girl Child Promotion and Empowerment Act, 2013.

    Assam

    Manjoni Scheme

    Under this scheme, Rs. 5000 is deposited by the State Government at the time of the birth of a girl child and the girl would get the matured value of this fixed deposit when she turns 18. In order to be eligible for this scheme, the girl child must be born in a Government hospital and the family should have adopted the two child norm.

    More information on this scheme can be found here.

    Bihar

    Mukhyamantri Kanya Suraksha Yojana

    Under this scheme the girl child gets financial assistance from her birth till graduation amounting to a total of Rs. 51,000. The funds will be dispersed over a period of time upon attaining a certain age and completion of certain prerequisites:

    • At birth: Rs 2000
    • Age 1 upon issuance of Aadhar card: Rs. 1000
    • Age 2: Rs. 2000
    • Passing 12th grade: Rs. 10,000
    • Graduation: Rs. 25,000

    These benefits are available to only 2 girls in a family and residents of Bihar. Girls coming from financially weaker backgrounds will be given priority. To apply to this scheme, the parents can visit the anganwadi centres, fill the application form and submit the necessary documents to the anganwadi workers.

    Goa

    MAMTA scheme for girl child

    With a view of improving the female sex ratio of the State, under this scheme an amount of Rs. 10000/- will be paid to all the mothers who deliver a girl child  (maximum 02 deliveries) in a registered medical institution. Eligible mothers can apply to the Child Development Project Officer through the local Anganwadi Centre with a copy of the Birth Certificate within 45 days from delivering the child. The benefits are directly credited to the declared Bank Account.

    There is an online application for this scheme. More information on this scheme can be found here.

    Gujarat

    Kunwarbai Nu Mameru Yojana

    The Ministry of Women and Child Development of Gujarat has launched a scheme called Kunwarbai Nu Mameru Yojana that offers financial assistance of Rs. 10,000 to only one girl of a family. However, this scheme has been started specifically for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes girls. Only those with an annual income limit of Rs. 1,20,000 (Rural areas) and Rs.1,50,000 (Urban areas) are eligible for this scheme.

    More information on this scheme can be found here.

    Haryana

    Laldi Scheme

    The Ladli Scheme of Haryana is meant to provide benefits to biological parents who have no son (biological or adopted) but only daughters. This scheme is only available to those who are either domicile of Haryana or working for the State government, whose gross annual income of the family does not exceed Rs. 2,00,000.

    The pattern of this scheme is similar to the Old Age Samman Allowance scheme for the families having only girl children. The enrolment of families under this scheme commences from the 45th birthday of the mother or the father whoever is older of the two till their 60th birthday i.e. for 15 years (Thereafter they will be eligible for Old Age Samman Allowance). The rate of allowance provided is Rs. 1,800 per month.

    More information on this scheme can be found here.

    Himachal Pradesh

    Indira Gandhi Balika Suraksha Yojana

    Under this scheme, the families adopting family planning methods after the birth of the first female child will be given a sum of Rs. 25,000 and those adopting family planning methods after the birth of two female children will be given a cash of Rs. 20,000.

    The health department of the Himachal Pradesh government also provides free of cost transportation either through taxi or ambulance for carrying pregnant women to the nearest hospital for delivery.

    Beti Hai Anmol Yojana

    Under this scheme, for all the families lying below the poverty line in Himachal and having one or two girls, a sum of Rs. 5100 will be deposited in the name of girls at the time of their birth. Moreover, to help in the education of such girls, scholarships ranging from Rs. 300 to Rs. 1500 will be given to them from class I to class XII.

    More information on this scheme can be found here.

    Jammu and Kashmir

    Ladli Beti Scheme

    Under this scheme, financial assistance of Rs. 1000 per month is made by the Government from the birth of the girl child / account opening date for the next 14 years. For this, zero balance accounts have already been opened in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank in respective localities. This is only applicable to girls born on or after 1st April 2015, and whose parental income is less than Rs. 75,000 per annum.

    More information on this scheme can be found here.

    Jharkhand

    Ladli Lakshmi Yojana

    Under this scheme, the State government offers a girl child from families below poverty line benefits of Rs. 1,80,600. An amount of Rs. 6,000 will be deposited annually into the girls account till she turns 5 years old. Further amounts will be added upon completion of higher education, marriage and so on, along with monthly allowances of Rs. 200 for girl students.

    Karnataka

    Karnataka Bhagyashree Scheme

    With the idea of raising the status of girl children and promoting their birth in the country, the Karnataka government has come up with the Karnataka Bhagyashree Scheme. The scheme provides financial assistance to the girl child in families that lie below the poverty line through her mother or father who is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions.

    The government of Karnataka offers the following benefits to the eligible candidates of this scheme-

    • The girl child gets a health insurance cover of upto Rs. 25,000 per month
    • The child gets an annual scholarship of Rs. 300 to Rs. 1,000, depending upon her age upto 10th standard
    • The parents get Rs. 1 lakh in case of accident and Rs. 42,500 in case of natural death of the girl child.
    • On completing 18 years of age, the parents of the girl child would be paid Rs. 34,751.

    Along with this, there are certain interim payments such as annual scholarships and insurance benefits that the beneficiary can avail upon continued fulfillment of the eligibility criteria. The grant of such facilities promotes the birth of girl children in economically weaker families and raises their status within the society.

    Kerala

    Education Assistance to Women Headed Families

    The scheme proposes to extend a helping hand to these families by way of providing financial assistance to the education of children by the State government.

    More information on this scheme can be found here.

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