Hero Image

Written by Communications Team

March 12th, 2025

This article takes 4 min to read

Share on

Beyond ‘Untouchable’ - How Dalit Women are Leading Change

Dalit women in India continue to face deep-rooted discrimination, but through Self-Help Groups, they are driving change in their communities.

From securing sanitation and preventing child marriage to restarting education and building livelihoods, these women are creating safer, stronger futures for themselves and their children

CASTE DISCRIMINATION

Caste discrimination is officially outlawed in India, yet Dalit communities are still widely considered as ‘untouchable’. They are consequently denied their rights, and excluded from society. Dalit women make up around 16% of India's female population, and face a "triple burden" of gender bias, caste discrimination and economic deprivation.

SELF HELP GROUPS

Since 2014, in every area where we support learning centres for Dalit children, we have also trained thousands of women through ‘Self Help Groups’ (SHGs). Members help eachother in growing small businesses to provide for their children, campaign peacefully for their rights and work tirelessly to tackle issues like child marriage and trafficking. 

There are now 105 groups with over 1,250 members. Over 30 groups have recently begun functioning independently for the first time. They have been trained to connect with government schemes and have become a great support for local campaigns and initiatives. 

MEET SARASWATI

Saraswati is a women's group member who lives in a small village area called Bindtoli, where 100 families did not have toilets. This is a particular problem for women and girls, due to the risk of sexual violence, and the lack of hygiene and privacy. After SHG members appealed to the local government to provide toilets for each family, they agreed to build 10 toilets, then the women took loans to build the 90 remaining toilets their community needed.

"Now we can go to the toilet without fear and shame." 

Dr Suraj Yenge, author of Caste Matters, describes how Dalit women are "the most marginal among the marginalised", while UNICEF reports that Dalit girls are the most excluded from primary school through a combination of social inequality and poverty. 

Working with local staff and a protection helpline, women’s Self Help Groups have prevented many incidents of abuse and abduction, and been part of raising the average age of girls' marriage from 14 to 17 in their communities. 

MEET RANI


At 14, Rani was married and consequently forced to leave school in eighth grade. Soon after, she became pregnant, her mother-in-law died, and she was left supporting her family as her father-in-law was unemployed. Despite these challenges, Rani was encouraged by her local women’s group to resume her education at one of the learning centres supported by Children on the Edge. She was welcome to bring her child along while she studied. 

Rani says:

“I lost my husband soon after and my parents wanted me to get married again but I said no!”  Instead, she encouraged her sister in law Julie to start National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) classes. They worked together supporting the family and passed their Grade 10 exams. With her certificate Rani got a job at a local hospital. She says, “I can now support my children independently and my dream is to study more and become a nurse.”


Strengthening communities enables them to help their children thrive. With your support, Dalit women can be resourced to bring transformation. 

Read more

Meet the Mother and Son Duo Learning Together in India

In India, a support programme for older children to obtain secondary level qualifications is helping Dalit communities to break out of the cycle of poverty and exclusion.

Tackling Child Marriage in India

An estimated 1.5 million girls under 18 get married in India each year, making it home to the largest number of child brides in the world. Find out how we tackle this.

Learning from Bangladesh: Introducing digital education for Dalit children in India

Our digital education programme in Bangladesh is proving so successful that it is being introduced in India, where we support 35 learning centres, offering education to around 1000 Dalit children.

Sign Up


Thank you!

An email has been sent to your inbox, please confirm your subscription with the link included.