By – Kadambari Chand
Abstract
The intersection of caste and gender has always been a subject of great interest for various feminist and caste scholars like Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, Uma Chakarvarti, Nivedita Menon. This article argues that everyday violence faced by women cannot be studied separately from the caste aspect of it in India. Drawing from the world of scholars such as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Uma Chakarvarti this article, proceeds to present how everyday violence against women ends up being a tool to reinforce caste-based hierarchy and brahminical patriarchy in the society. It emphasises how everyday violence is not just an isolated phenomenon; it is a structural phenomenon through which caste and gender hierarchies are sustained.
Introduction–
Historically, the discourse surrounding problems of gender and caste discrimination has moved along separate trajectories. Feminists have generally focused on problems faced by women in the upper caste framework, and the Dalit literature has focused on the experiences of the Dalit men. However, the intersection of caste, class, and gender creates a complex structure of oppression and violence in society. A lot of work has been done by scholars in trying to comprehend this complex intersection of caste, class, and gender and how it plays out in society. One aspect of this intersection is the various forms of violence women face in their day-to-day lives. Although at a glance, this violence looks like isolated cases; much of this violence is connected to the very caste system present in our society. Everyday violence, ranging from restrictions on mobility to crimes like sexual assault, is due to the Brahminical patriarchy present in our society, and in this system, violence and acts of control and restriction turn into the tools for sustaining and reproducing caste and gender hierarchies.
Women’s body, Control, and Reproduction of caste-
According to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in his essay Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development, endogamy is central to the maintenance of the caste system. Therefore, the regulation of women’s bodily autonomy and marriage is essential for the existence of the caste system. Various coercive practices like Sati, child marriage, and enforced widowhood have been practiced so that women don’t marry outside their caste and therefore maintain this caste purity. A woman’s body and her sexuality have been a connecting joint for the caste system and patriarchy. As a result, the ideals of feminine virtue became linked to submissiveness, obedience, sexual purity, and conformity. A good woman is expected to self-sacrifice for the sake of her family and their honour. Due to this, the control over women’s bodies became an essential feature of the caste system, and crossing the boundaries defined for them, became an act that invites coercion and violence.
Every day violence and the upper caste women-
Violence faced by women belonging to different castes is different in nature, due to the different roles given to women in the system of brahminical patriarchy. For upper caste women, this takes on the form of violence subtler than the physical assaults but equally important in maintaining social control. Uma Chakravarti’s concept of Brahminical patriarchy explains how caste and patriarchy reinforce each other. Since upper caste women are viewed as the gatekeepers of caste purity, they are expected to embody ideals of purity and what is considered socially respectable because their honour is linked to the community’s honour. Therefore, because of this understanding, for upper caste women, everyday violence often comes in the form of restrictions on mobility, surveillance of behaviour, moral policing, and limitations in educational and material choices.
This control is maintained through both coercion and socialisation since childhood leading them to often internalising the roles assigned to them and playing a part in reproducing the patriarchal expectations. The concept of ‘patriarchal bargain’ by Deniz Kandiyoti explains that women accept oppression and restrictive norms because conforming to them provides social acceptance and economic and social security as well as status in society. Over time these expectations become normalised and appear natural rather than coercive. Women who tried to seek greater independence are often framed as rebellious and immoral and are excluded from society.
Apart from these, when an upper-caste woman tries to cross the boundaries decided for her with regard to her caste, it results in her experiencing physical and social violence. An example of this would be the frequent cases of honour killings, which happen when a woman decides to be in a relationship or marry a man from the marginalised caste. Although there are scarce reliable data regarding the honour killings in our country, officially, NCRB has reported 33 cases in 2021, and 18 in 2022. However, various scholars and activists claim that this data is incorrect and very low in comparison to the current numbers of honour killings, which often go unaccounted for and remain unrecognised by the state. According to another data by the Home Ministry, 145 honour killings cases occurred in 2017-2019. However, one Tamil Nadu NGO counted 195 cases in the state alone over five years. This also brings the picture in front of us of how little of a crime honour killings are considered, how often they go unnoticed, and how these kinds of cases are accepted in society.
These statistics become more meaningful when viewed alongside specific instances of honour killings that reveal how caste and patriarchal control operate in practice. A recent case of this would be the murder of a girl named Shivani in UP killed by her parents inside the police station over the fact that she chose to marry a Dalit man. This is not just one isolated example; instead, this example shows a pattern in which several honor killings have taken place in our country. Furthermore, it shows how important the control of women is to reproduce the caste hierarchy. The most important detail in this case is how violence is used for disciplining women in society demonstrating what would happen if they dare break the boundaries imposed on them. Still, even after a lot of these cases occur in our society, only a small number of such victims get adequate justice, and most of these cases still remain unreported in this century.
Dalit Women and the Politics of Sexual Violence
While upper-caste women are controlled and surveyed under the name of purity and honour, the picture here changes quite a bit for the Dalit women, who occupy the lower ranks in the caste ladder. Rather than being protected as symbols of honour and purity, their bodies are hyper sexualised, something which the upper caste men have the right to claim and are treated as sites through which caste power can be asserted.
Dalit women experience “triple marginalisation” in society, because of their caste, gender and class. Class plays a major role in the life of Dalit women, since a large percentage of the Dalit women live below the poverty line and depend on their jobs as agricultural labourers, domestic workers, and informal sector employees to earn their living. This places them in a position of economic dependence on dominant caste employers and landlords, which makes them vulnerable to harassment and sexual exploitation, as abuse becomes difficult to challenge. In this context, sexual harassment and rape become an everyday reality for women from marginalised castes, especially in rural areas, as these violent acts are not only considered violent acts but also a weapon to establish caste dominance. Sexual assault is often used to punish communities that challenge traditional caste hierarchies by gaining economic independence, seeking education, and demanding land rights or equal treatment.
State institutions and the reproduction of Caste power-
The system of brahminical patriarchy doesn’t only limit itself to the general public but also affects the state apparatuses, including the criminal justice system, from police to the courts and media, leading to an increased number of cases of violence. Even when survivors report the crime, they often face obstacles at every stage of the legal process to get justice.
There have been several cases where police have refused to register the FIRs, and protected the perpetrators, especially when the cases are connected to or go against the established boundaries of the caste system. One such case is the infamous Hathras Rape case, in which a 19-year-old Dalit woman was gang raped and brutalised in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. According to the victim’s family the police tried to save the rapists by delaying the FIR, even to the extent of cremating the victim’s body without the family’s information, leading to widespread scrutiny of the UP police. Apart from the state institutions, community institutions like local panchayats also run on the same ideas acting as barriers protecting caste hierarchy; hindering the process of getting justice in India.
Conclusion-
Everyday violence against women in India is a structural mechanism of maintaining and reproducing the caste hierarchy. Brahminical patriarchy relies on controlling women’s bodies ,whether in the form of surveillance or brutal violence, to sustain itself. Therefore, the struggle for equality for both women and dalits are intertwined with each other without the liberation of one, the liberation of the other won’t be truly achieved.
Author’s Bio
Kadambari Chand is a second-year student pursuing a B.A. (Hons.) in Political Science at O.P. Jindal Global University. Her interests lie in understanding how class, caste, religion, and other intersecting structures of power shape political and social life.
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