Exploitation of labor is at the very heart of the caste system. Dalits are forced to perform tasks deemed too %u201Cpolluting%u201D or degrading for non-Dalits to carry out. According to unofficial estimates, more than 1.3 million Dalits %u2013 mostly women %u2013 are employed as manual scavengers to clear human waste from dry pit latrines. In several cities, Dalits are lowered into manholes without protection to clear sewage blockages, resulting in more than 100 deaths each year from inhalation of toxic gases or from drowning in excrement. Dalits comprise the majority of agricultural, bonded, and child laborers in the country. Many survive on less than US$1 per day.
In January 2007 the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concluded that Dalit women in India suffer from %u201Cdeeply rooted structural discrimination.%u201D %u201CHidden Apartheid%u201D records the plight of Dalit women and the multiple forms of discrimination they face. Abuses documented in the report include sexual abuse by the police and upper-caste men, forced prostitution, and discrimination in employment and the payment of wages.
Dalit children face consistent hurdles in access to education. They are made to sit in the back of classrooms and endure verbal and physical harassment from teachers and students. The effect of such abuses is borne out by the low literacy and high drop-out rates for Dalits.
The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and Human Rights Watch call on CERD to scrutinize the ga
