Dalit women at NY gender forum

DELHI: Two dalit women Thenmozhi Soundararajan and Asha Kotwal represented the story of their struggle against gender violence at the fifth Women in the World summit in New York earlier this month. The two women are key participants of the Dalit Women Self-Respect Yatra and have travelled from district to district across India to motivate women to speak up.

Only 1% of dalit rape cases receive justice - this statistic was the key of event moderator Cynthia Mcfadden's address. She is a senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. "The shame is not on the woman, the shame is on India," said Soundararjan, a transmedia artist. Kotwal, the general secretary of the All India Dalit Women Rights Forum (AIDMAM), too shared her insights on the discrimination and violence that dalit women face in India.

The National Crime Bureau says that about four dalit women get raped every day. Kowtal suggests that the number is likely to be much more as many cases don't get reported. The discussion began with Hollywood star Uma Thurman reciting the story of a dalit rape victim, Manisha. Therman points out that the men justified their actions by stating that dalit women sell themselves all the time. "They have no honour." Such remarks provoked the activists to work towards change.