A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

Background on Caste Discrimination

The Hindu faith separates its people into various hierarchically organized castes.  People are divided into five broad divisions in the caste system: Brahman (priests and scholars), Kshatriya or Chhetri (rulers and warriors), Vaisya (or Vaisaya, merchants and traders), and Sudra (farmers, artisans, and laborers). The fifth division is the lowest and is the caste for the "untouchables" or "socially polluted."  It is this group, often referred to as the Dalit, that JMC aims to help.

Since the Dalit are the lowest caste, they are severely discriminated against in various ways. They have been banned from drinking water from the community tap, forced to eat their own excrement, relegated to such demeaning jobs as cleaning up dead animals and people and cleaning up waste, among other things.

The other page in this section profiles Dalit journalists that are working to decrease discrimination of the Dalit in Nepali society. The journalists write for JMC's e-bulletin, which can be read on its website.