Ruth Manorama – Trail blazer of Dalit Women’s Rights

Special Articles / N. Paul Divakar and Juno Varghese / Social Work Foot Prints, Vol.VI, Issue.1

Abstract
This is an article on Dr. Ruth Manorama and her outstanding contribution for the liberation of the Dalits, particularly Dalit Women for forty years.

Caste has been the centre of debates and discussions for centuries now. Caste based discrimination continues to be one of the most wide ranging human rights violations that has been prevailing for decades and has affected almost the quarter of the total population residing in India. Caste is still used as a mechanism to socially organise the people in India which has become a source of marginalisation, discrimination, and deprivation to a large section of people in our society. Indian society is divided into four castes or Varnas namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Some of whom who fall outside the caste system are known as ‘untouchables’. Discrimination based on this hierarchical setup puts a few in a privileged position and others in a disadvantaged and humiliating position. 

Read More