Globalisation has a huge impact on cultural, social, monetary, political and communal life of India, even it started to influence the value system also. Modernization became one of the keyword in Indian population. The reverberations of globalization in the lives of Dalit women are not so simple.
Globalization has integrated rich, affluent, and educated classes, but has fractured working classes of marginalized sections such as Dalit women.
The Impact of Globalization in the lives of Dalit Women in India
1. The Impactof Globalizationin the lives of Dalit Women in
India
Br. SARATH THOMAS CHAMAKALAYIL
Department of Extension Services and Community College, Marian College Kuttikkakanam
9539890560, sarathcthomas@gmail.com
2. INTRODUCTION
Globalisation has a huge impact on cultural, social, monetary,
political and communal life of India, even it started to
influence the value system also. Modernization became one
of the keyword in Indian population. The reverberations of
globalization in the lives of Dalit women are not so simple.
Globalization has integrated rich, affluent, and educated
classes, but has fractured working classes of marginalized
sections such as Dalit women.
Its impacts can be seen in the realms of education, Access to
Basic resources, Employment Opportunities, Access to
Healthcare facilities, Family Role. etc
3. GLOBALIZATION
Globalization refers to all those processes by which
the peoples of the world are incorporated into a
single world society, global society (Albrow, 1990).
The world is becoming compressed into 'a single
space
4. DALIT WOMAN IN INDIA
There are about 250 million Dalits in India.
There is no proper survey to give number of dalit women in
India. They are generally scattered in villages and they are not a
monogamous group.
Of the country’s almost 100 million Dalit women, approximately
three fourths live in rural areas where they face oppression,
social exclusion, and direct and structural violence from within
their own community as well as from ‘upper’ castes.
5. Dalit women in India are
considered the Dalits among
Dalits and suffer from a
three-fold oppression
—On account of gender because
of existing patriarchy
- On account of their caste ‘the
untouchable’
- Finally, on account of their
class - as they hail from the
poorest and most marginalized
communities.
6. IMPACTS OF GLOBALIZATION IN DALIT WOMAN
Education is the most important factor for enhancing one’s status in
society. With the absence of material means of production, it is only through
education that Dalit women could make some meaningful progress.
- But the processes of privatization have encroached upon our educational
system.
-Becomes more expensive & Inaccessible.
- Here Dalit women are facing economic untouchablity because she is poor and
dependent. Extreme poverty, because of which they cannot afford the
expensive fees for the private schools
- RESULT IS 76.24% of Dalit women being illiterate.
7. EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
With the introduction of new farming techniques, such as
mechanization for harvesting and transplanting, women have lost
their traditional work in the agricultural sector.
Food crops have been replaced by cash crops. Horticulture has been
introduced by big agribusiness corporations for export purposes. This
has deprived Dalit women of their land and the common resources in
the village.
Women used to collect greens, fish, and shells from the fields for their
food requirements for free. This is no longer available to them.
85% of the Dalit women have the most formidable occupations and work as agricultural labourers,
scavengers, sweepers, and disposers of human waste. (Ministry of Labour)
8. ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
-Through Globalisation, the basic health care service
centers have been upgraded into Super speciality and
multi specialty hospital.
- Advancement of equipment and technologies
- But becomes more expensive & unable to access health
care services.
- Result is high incidence of maternal mortality and infant mortality,
Early marriages and multiple child births causes the women to
suffer from prolapsed uterus, Back pain, anaemia, under nutrition.
9. ACCESS TO BASIC RESOURCES
• According to census 2011, Dalits make
up16.2% of the total Indian
population, but their access &control
over the resources of the country is
marginal—less than 5%.
• Less than 10% of Dalit households can
afford safe drinking water, electricity
and toilets other communal resources.
• The vast majority of Dalits depend on
the goodwill of upper-caste
community members for access to the
communal resources.
• Limited access to land, Infrastructural
facilities. Etc.
10. Migrations & changing of family roles
large-scale migration from rural areas to the urban
centers in search of better livelihood options.
More and more female headed households emerge
and most of them are headed by Dalit women
11. SEXUAL EXPLOITATIONS
In the name of Untouchability, Dalits face nearly 140 forms of work & descent-
based discrimination at the hands of the dominant castes.
• Prohibited from entering dominant caste homes
• Prohibited from riding a bicycle inside the village.
• No access to village’s common/public properties and resources (wells, ponds,
temples, etc.)
• Segregation (separate seating area) of Dalit children in schools .
• Prohibited from using common village path etc are few of them.
( National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights)
But when it comes to sexual offences it does not a matter. Many Dalit women are
still now the objects of sexual pleasures in this 21st century in India.It is really the
contradiction that while the un touchability exists , even they are not allowed to
enter into the house of of upper class the upper class can use them for satisfying
their sexual pleasure.
12. Abject poverty has driven large numbers of Dalit
women into the sex trade to earn for their
families.
Such situations push the women into further
situations of impoverishment, making them
more and more vulnerable to all forms of
discrimination and violations.
13. CONCLUSION
Globalization is concerned with the wellbeing of the poor people.
This is one of the slogan raised by the corporates and agents of
globalisation. But the effect of this so – called slogan does not reach
to the grassroots level, the poor and untouchables. With the
implementation of the package of globalisation, India may become
more prosperous with 9 percent GDP growth rate, but it will not
emerge as a just and equitable society. The divide between the
people the upper and poor will widen further, sharpening the
stratification that already exists in our society.