The National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW) is a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting the rights of

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

women internationally. NFDW was founded by

Ruth Manorama Ruth Manorama (born 30 May 1952) is a Dalit social activist from Bangalore, India who fights for Dalit women's rights, the rights of domestic workers and those in the unorganized labour sector, as well as urban slum dwellers. In 2006, she was aw ...

in 1995.

History

The National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW) was begun as an idea in 1993 by

when she helped organize a hearing in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

on the topic of violence against Dalit women. This led to NFDW being founded in 1995. Later at the World Conference on Women in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, NFDW participated, with Manorama being the group's representative. NFDW created several early goals, including creating several national and state-level committees, tracking crimes against Dalit people, creating resources and providing scholarships for Dalit women's educations. In 2001, NFDW with Manorama, participated in the World Conference Against Racism, where they "translated and discussed caste discrimination in a manner that seemed to amplify its global resonance." In 2006, NFDW, along with the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) held the first national conference on violence against Dalit women in the city of

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

About

The organization is secular, democratically controlled and works on Dalit women's issues and also represents Dalit women both nationally and internationally. NFDW works with local and regional Dalit women's groups to share issues and concerns with one another. NFDW also helps women take legal action against violence and helps provide leadership opportunities.

References

Citations

Sources

* * Dalit politics 1995 establishments in India Feminism in India Women's rights organizations {{Authority control