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Make a difference this month in the global fight against human trafficking, child labor, forced prostitution, and all other forms of human enslavement.
Four simple ways you can join the cause today:
1. Spread the word on Twitter and Facebook.
2. Tell a friend!
3. Donate.
4. Sign the Petition.
DFN began in 2002 in response to the plea of Dalit leaders: "Educate our children!" Today a freedom movement is advancing all over India through Dalit Education Centers, where Dalit children learn English and are taught the values of freedom, equality and human dignity. Learn more.
In debt to landlords, moneylenders, grocers, and more, most Dalits work hand-to-mouth, ground down in horrific poverty. This economic disempowerment forces many into bonded labor and prostitution. Our Vocational Training, Self-Help Groups, and Fair-Rate Loans enable Dalit adults to learn marketable skills and support their families. Learn more.
Most Dalits cannot afford healthcare. Simple fractures go untreated and result in crippling malformations. More than 40% of India's youngest children are malnourished. Dalits also suffer from diseases unseen in developed nations, like polio and leprosy. DFN's comprehensive community-based healthcare program meets immediate needs and is paving the way for sustainability. Learn more.
DFN is the leading voice of justice for the Dalits in our nation's capital. Focusing on the big-picture of ending the trafficking of Dalits, our education campaigns, legislative work, and continuous advocacy promote justice for the Dalits. Our work with Dalit children and women in India builds hope and empowerment. Learn more.
Every day, in every nation on the planet, children are sold and bonded into slavery. Thousands of children. I know, I was one of them.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Thursday said the dalits, tribals and minorities have become the victims of disparity in many parts of the country regardless of the large measures being taken by the government.
If it is a crime to be born a woman in society, it is a bigger crime to be born a Dalit woman. This, at least, is what a study by human rights organisation, Navsarjan Trust, says.
On the face of it, entrepreneur Ashok Khade is just another one of India’s growing wealthy, heading a successful $27 million infrastructure and oil and gas business group that employs 4,500 people. But the 56-year-old is a rarity, as he belongs to India’s dalit, or “untouchable” classes, who for centuries have been anchored at the bottom of Hinduism’s caste system and remain among the most exploited and despised.
Decades ago, Siraj Gazi’s grandfather changed his last name of Chowduli to the higher-caste Gazi. He hoped it would erase the social stigma of his low-caste roots. Today, 23-year-old Mr. Gazi, a college graduate, is trying to prove that he is, in fact, a Chowduli—a surname so low, it is akin to a racial epithet here. “My grandfather wanted to stop people from looking down on us as ignorant and backward,” says Mr. Gazi. “But to get a better job, I’m willing to go back.”
More than 200 Indian girls whose names mean “unwanted” in Hindi have chosen new names for a fresh start in life. A central Indian district held a renaming ceremony Saturday that it hopes will give the girls new dignity and help fight widespread gender discrimination that gives India a skewed gender ratio, with far more boys than girls.
Click here to sign the petition.
Every day 1.3 million people in India (of which more than 80% are Dalit women) are forced to clean human excrement with their bare hands for little to no wages, a practice called manual scavenging. On June 17, 2011, Prime Minister Singh called manual scavenging “one of the darkest blots on [India’s] development process” and asked all State Ministers to pledge to eliminate this scourge from every corner of India by the end of 2011.
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A Must-Read New E-Book by Oliver D’Souza$13.95 Also Includes a Complete E-Text of Manusmirti’s The Laws of Manu Learn more about Truth About Dalits
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