Clinging to Hope After Years of Oppression and Violence

Caste system instills fear of death into women and girls

Photo by Dipesh Gurav on Unsplash

For those unfamiliar with it, a caste system is a class structure determined by birth. Your opportunities depend on the family you happened to be born into.

Those familiar with the system know that’s all true — for hundreds of years — as rigid customs have been often violently enforced in regions and religions throughout the Indian subcontinent.

Women have particularly suffered from caste-based violence, which is top of mind for #SayftyChat, a weekly Twitter chat that explores topics related to women’s safety and preventing violence against women.

Triumph of equality lies in overdue access to opportunity

Meena Kotwal, Shubhankar Gautam and Dr. Shruti Kapoor assessed the caste system as it exists today and prospects for change.

Kotwal is a journalist and founding editor of “The Mooknayak,” a YouTube channel and web portal. She has worked with BBC News Hindi as a broadcast journalist and writes opinion for The Wire, The Print India, Youth Ki Awaaz and…