Asha Kowtal is an activist and expert in the field of

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

women’s rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries ...

. She is the Former General Secretary of the

Dalit Women’s Rights movement Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold varn ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, called the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM), which is part of the

National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), founded in 1998, now comprises four operational strands, each of which is working to eradicate caste-based discrimination against Dalits in India. It is based in Delhi and has chapters elsewhere i ...

. She is also a convenor and part of the steering committee of WinG-India, a network advancing leadership of women from the north-eastern part of India, and involving Dalit and tribal communities in governance at all levels with the aim of challenging exploitative structures and enabling a society with gender equality.

Professional qualifications

Kowtal holds a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

degree in

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

and has held various positions with donor agencies, working in the development sector with a focus on the rights of India’s marginalised women.

Professional career

Under Kowtal's leadership, AIDMAM has organised multiple activities, including a National Tribunal on Justice for Dalit Women, which came out with a report on violence against Dalit women after sittings held on 30 September and 1 October 2013. Kowtal and AIDMAM have also organised a national conference to discuss the specific needs of Dalit women, titled "Reframing Budgets for Dalit Women in India", training programs on International Human Rights Mechanisms and Dalit women self-respect marches across key Indian states, such as the Dalit Mahila Swabhiman Yatra. She has also organised North American tour as Dalit Women Self Respect March, around 16 cities of North America in 2015. Asha has been involved in creation of Dalit History Month. Its goal is to share the contributions to history from Dalits around the world. Kowtal was also a speaker at the

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the righ ...

and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

'National Conference on Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment' in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. She also spoke at the April 2014

Women in the World Women in the World was a live journalism platform that was founded by Tina Brown in 2010 to "discover and amplify the unheard voices of global women on the front lines of change." First held at New York’s Hudson Theater, and thereafter at ...

Summit in New York on the mass mobilisation of Dalit women through self-respect marches. She has been a regular speaker at various United Nations events.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kowtal, Asha Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Indian women's rights activists