WUNRN
INDIA - SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS OF
WOMEN MANUAL SCAVENGERS - STUDY
Direct Link to Full 46-Page 2014
Report:
In the caste based social structure of India, the ‘Dalit’ community has been excluded from a dignified right to life. As a result, the community has remained backward in education, livelihoods, access to services, schemes and opportunities to live a life with dignity. Most grievous situation in this context is their forced retention in caste based and hereditary occupations which means that the community is not free and allowed to select occupations of its choice. Dalits remain in occupations forced upon them centuries ago resulting in their continued exploitation and discrimination.
Of all the caste based occupations forced on the ‘Dalit’ community, the most despicable and inhumane is that of ‘head loading’. They lift and carry heavy loads of excrement and night soil in baskets to designated sites of disposal on their heads. Manual scavengers manually clean dry latrines used by others in the village/semi-urban areas. Amongst those involved in head-loading 98% are women, who are forced to do this work under social pressure. Since this work is caste based and is considered compulsory for a particular caste within the ‘Dalit’ community by traditional society, it has not remained merely an occupation but has continued as a practice and custom. The system has rendered vast majority of people oppressed who are considered "untouchables", deprived of their social, economic and political rights. Any progressive attempt has been subdued by acts of discrimination and exclusion that has exacerbated their sense of powerlessness. Discrimination and exclusion in all spheres of life – social, religious, economic and political– have resulted in loss of their identity and dignity. Further, the lack of resource ownership and opportunities aggravates their vulnerability.
In Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh people from 'Valmiki', 'Haila' and 'Halalkhor' castes are involved in the practice while in Bihar they are from ‘Mister’ and 'Dome' castes. Communities of these castes are placed in the lowest rung of Hindu society- ‘‘Untouchables among the Untouchables’’. The continuing hold of caste based thinking and practice undermines their self-esteem and dignity. Previous approaches to end manual scavenging include Gandhian Approach which appeals to conscience of people; Legal Approach relying on the legislative advocacy, Rehabilitation Approach that advocates for policies of rehabilitation and Technocratic Approach advocating for replacing dry latrines and constructing flush toilets.
These approaches, however, are limited by their focus on abolishing manual scavenging. By treating manual scavenging as a form of work or employment—a subset of labor that could be sanitized through technical interventions or economic empowerment schemes—these approaches have failed to place the issue of manual scavenging in broader social, cultural and political context. Such targeted strategies have failed to mount a frontal challenge to the pyramid-like caste structure that confines manual scavengers to its base; do not identify women as primary group performing this while facing discrimination from their very own families and recognize the hierarchy maintained among ‘Dalits’. None of these strategies seek to "liberate" manual scavengers from a mindset that reinforces their confinement to torturous caste-based duties outlawed under both Indian domestic law and the UN Convention on Torture9.
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