The Caste Freedom Index:Overview and Update

DK Gurung, Ph.D.Krishna Sob

DL Zimmerman, Ph.D.

Agenda

Dr. Damber Kumar “DK” Gurung

• Introduction to ICDR and the Panel

Mr. Krishna Sob

• Current status of Dalits

Dr. DK Gurung

• Overview and power of the caste-system

• Need for the Caste Freedom Index

Dr. Don Zimmerman

Overview and status of the Caste Freedom Index

Overview of Dalits

•Definition of Dalits

•Size and location of the Dalit population

•Current status of Dalits

Why we need the Caste Freedom

Index

Caste Pyramid (1854 Civil Code) 5

The area showing different groups does not represent population size. Darker shade shows the

Hindu caste groups.Source: World Bank/DFID, Unequal Citizens: Gender, Caste and Ethnic Exclusion in Nepal (2006).

Caste – Primary organizing principle in Nepal

• High Caste: Only Bahun “Brahman by birth” are allowed and continue to serve as Hindu priests

• High Caste: Only Chhetri ‘Kshatriya by birth” became head of state, Army generals, until recently

• High Caste: High caste Newars

• Non-Caste (Janajati, Indigenous): Designated to serve in military and as mercenary

• Low Caste: Muslims

• Lowest Caste (Untouchables – Dalits): Designated to serve as labors in – tailoring, shoemaking, blacksmith, etc.

Why the Caste Freedom Index is needed

•Caste based discrimination outlawed

• Influential sectors of society and even Governments deny existence of Caste system

•Discriminations are often not officially recognized

•Caste-ism is publicly obfuscated, deliberately confused

The Caste Freedom Index – Overview and

update

The Caste Freedom Index – Overview and update

• There is no single instrument to measure and monitor caste-based discrimination and untouchability, or caste and gender-based violence at the national and global level.

• ICDR believes that creating a standardized measurement and advocacy framework will provide a needed benchmark for determining the current status of discrimination and a model for focusing and measuring progress towards the elimination of caste-based discrimination.  

ICDR is working with a range of stakeholders and experts

• First envisioned in 2012, the CFI is now being developed through the active participation of the ICDR with a number of national and local Dalit organizations in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.

•Starting in Fall 2013, the ICDR received he active technical support of Statistics Without Borders (SWB), an Outreach Group of the American Statistical Association.

Key CFI design parameters

1. Must be able to measure different social and personal domains of caste-based discrimination

2. Must be able to measure different structural domains of discrimination.

3. Must provide a framework for meaningful policy formation, implementation, and assessment over-time

4. Be developed using an organic, bottom-up approach

1. Social and personal domains of caste-based discrimination

1. Constitutional and legal protections

2. Political and social policy

3. Economic access and activity

4. Community relations

5. Individual and family experience 

2. Different structural domains of discrimination1. The right to life, health and shelter

2. The right to family life, privacy and personal dignity

3. The right to employment, fair pay and economic opportunity

4. The right to freedom of expression and freedom of movement

5. The right to political representation

6. The right to access to justice and protection from crime

3. The CFI framework for meaningful policy formation, implementation, and assessment over-time

  A. Constitutional and legal principle

B. Political and social action

C. Economic activity

D. Community relations

E. Individual and family experience

1. Life, health and shelter

1A 1B 1C 1D 1E

2. Family life, privacy and personal dignity

2A 2B 2C 2D 2E

3. Employment, fair pay, economic opportunity

3A 3B 3C 3D 3E

4. Freedom of expression, freedom of movement

4A 4B 4C 4D 4E

5. Political representation

5A 5B 5C 5D 5E

6. Access to justice, protection from crime

6A 6B 6C 6D 6E

As a result, the basic model of the CFI is:

•A framework matrix or dashboard which charts the interrelationship between six human rights dimensions and five social and personal domains.

•The CFI matrix is intended to be capable of completion using a variety of basic data sources and methodologies.

•Able to provide cross-sectional and longitudinal measurements

•On November 12 and 13, 2014, a national workshop was organized at the Union House, Kathmandu, Nepal through the support of the International Commission on Dalit Rights (ICDR) and Statistics Without Borders.

•The purpose of the workshop was to validate each cell of the CFI matrix against personal reports of caste-based discrimination.

4. Be developed using an organic, bottom-up approach

Results

•Supports the hypothesis that Dalit people currently face discrimination in each of the cells of the matrix.

•142 discrete issues were identified within the different dimensions of the matrix.

•Additional refinement is needed prior to the next step in the development process to adjust for reliability issues.

Next Steps

•Analysis continues of the data collected through the exploratory study.

• Further exploratory work is being designed to 1) develop and validate a more reliable set of candidate indicators, and 2) assess their feasibility and the most appropriate modes of data collection

Thank you and Questions