Dr. Charu WaliKhanna, Member, National Commission for Women was the Chief Guest at National Public Hearing of Dalit Women Elected Representatives held in New Delhi on February 7th, 2012., The Inaugural address was delivered by Dr. Syeda Hameed, Member, Planning Commission. 

The Public hearing was organized by All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch in which Dalit women elected representatives from Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh presented their cases and experiences of dealing with violence and discrimination and the efforts that they have taken to access justice. 

The Public hearing was structured in a format covering the following themes and the panelists covered a cross section of academia, social activists, CSO’s and Social research & media groups. 

1. Dalit women elected representatives and barriers to political participation -Highlighted were cases of Dalit women who were prevented from contesting elections, who were propped as proxy candidates, were prevented from performing their duties and those who faced severe discrimination from dominant caste groups. 

2. Dalit women elected representatives and violence – Highlighted were cases of Dalit women elected representatives who themselves are survivors of violence, whose family members were threatened, kidnapped and killed. This panel will also present the plight of other Dalit women survivors of violence who were supported by the elected representatives. 

3. Dalit women elected representatives and the access to justice - Comprising cases which have been pending with barriers to legal recourse. Highlighted were the barriers to seek justice and the bottlenecks in the process. 

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