Written Contribution to the Draft General Recommendation No. 41 on Dismantling Gender Stereotypes and the Unequal Power Relations that Sustain them
Written Contribution to the Draft General Recommendation No. 41 on Dismantling Gender Stereotypes and the Unequal Power Relations that Sustain them; Perspectives from Women affected by Work and Descent based Discrimination
The Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFoD) presents this submission in response to the Committee's call for input on Draft General Recommendation No. 41 (GR 41). We commend the Committee's focus on the structural and underlying causes of gender inequality. However, we emphasize that gender stereotypes are not generated in a vacuum; they are profoundly shaped and hardened by inherited systems of social stratification, such as caste and analogous systems of descent-based discrimination. For the 270 million individuals worldwide who belong to Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD), stereotypes are not merely cultural attitudes but are mechanisms of an intergenerational hierarchy that marks women at birth for a lifetime of exclusion, marginalisation, and disadvantage in every sphere of life. Discrimination based on work and descent (DWD) refers to inherited systems of social hierarchy in which individuals and communities are assigned unequal status at birth. These systems include caste and analogous forms of inherited exclusion affecting communities such as Dalits, Roma, Burakumin, Osu, Haratine, Quilombola and others. DWD affects human dignity, equality and social participation.
Discrimination based on work and descent manifests through deeply entrenched forms of exclusion and stigma linked to inherited occupation and social origin. Common indicators include occupational segregation into degrading or hazardous work, restrictions on marriage and social interaction, spatial segregation, denial of access to land, education, housing, health care, water and sanitation, barriers to political participation, and violence justified through notions of “purity” and “pollution.” These inequalities are intergenerational and structural, reproducing poverty and exclusion over centuries. Women and girls from affected communities often face compounded discrimination, including gender-based violence, labour exploitation and exclusion from leadership and decision-making processes. Increasingly, these forms of discrimination also appear in diaspora contexts, digital spaces and labour migration systems, including biased recruitment practices, exploitative supply chains and exclusion in housing and employment.
Specific Comments on Draft GR 41
On Paragraph 2: A possible addition to this paragraph could further acknowledge that gender stereotypes and discrimination are also shaped by hierarchies among women themselves, particularly affecting women from communities discriminated on work and descent. Women from communities such as Roma, Dalit, Burakumin, Haratin, Quilombola, and other descent-based communities are often perceived and treated as inferior not only in relation to men, but also in comparison to dominant groups of women within society. These intersecting forms of discrimination are reflected in social exclusion, segregation, barriers to education and employment, harmful stereotypes around “purity” and social status, and limited participation in public and political life. Addressing gender stereotypes therefore requires an intersectional approach that also confronts intra-gender hierarchies and the structural devaluation of women affected by work- and descent-based discrimination.
On Paragraph 3: Recognising work- and descent-based discrimination at the global level is therefore essential to the effective implementation of Article 2 and the Convention as a whole. States parties should ensure that measures aimed at eliminating gender stereotypes also address the structural and intergenerational discrimination faced by women from these communities, including through targeted policies, temporary special measures, and intersectional approaches to equality and participation.
On Paragraph 4: We support the Committee's recognition of “caste” as a ground for intersectional discrimination. We recommend the additional inclusion of “work and descent-based status” to align with the normative framework established by ICERD General Recommendation 29 and the evolving practice of the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, as well as the newly announced CERD GR41 on work and descent based discrimination, and the UN Women Policy Paper on Women affected by Work and Descent Based Discrimination.
Suggested inclusion: “The Committee underscores intersectionality as a critical concept to understand the scope of States parties' obligations under the Convention to address gender stereotypes. States parties must consider women's multifaceted identities in all state action to transform gender stereotypes. Women often suffer intersectional discrimination and gender stereotypes based on their sex; gender; age; Indigenous origin, status or identity; race; color; ethnicity; religion or belief; health status; HIV/AIDS status; disability; nationality; language; socioeconomic status; marital status; widowhood; class; caste; work and descent based status, sexual orientation and gender identity, among other factors.”
On Paragraph 6: It may also be useful to reference current developments within the UN system related to women affected by work- and descent-based discrimination. In particular, the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls is currently developing a guidance note on women affected by work- and descent-based discrimination, reflecting growing international recognition of the specific and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by these communities. Referring to this ongoing process could strengthen the intersectional framing of the Recommendation.
On Paragraph 7: A search of the Universal Human Rights Index (UHRI) under the CEDAW mechanism using terms related to communities affected by work- and descent-based discrimination—including Roma, Dalit, Osu, Buraku, Haratin, and similar communities—returns a significant number of recommendations and concluding observations. This demonstrates that CEDAW bodies have already consistently engaged with the gendered dimensions of work- and descent-based discrimination across regions. It may therefore be useful to explicitly acknowledge these patterns within the Recommendation.
Additionally, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has also adopted a resolution recognising discrimination based on work and descent, further reinforcing the growing regional and international recognition of this form of structural discrimination and its disproportionate impact on women and girls (Resolution 619 in November 2024).
On Paragraph 9: Women belonging to communities discriminated on work and descent often face entrenched patriarchal norms that further compound their exclusion. These norms define rigid gender roles and reinforce male authority within the household and community, frequently silencing women's voices in both public and private spheres. As a result, CDWD women may be systematically excluded from access to education, community leadership, decision-making processes, and resistance movements that advocate for the rights of their communities. The intersection of caste or descent-based discrimination and patriarchy intensifies their marginalization, making it difficult to assert their rights, access justice, or participate in advocacy efforts. These sedimented social hierarchies maintain discrimination against these groups.
On Paragraph 12: The definition of stigma must be elaborated to include notions of “purity and pollution” and “untouchability”. For CDWD women, stigma is an inherited social rank where their presence or work is viewed as “ritually impure,” leading to “untouchability”-type practices (antigypsyism in the case of Roma), that restrict access to water, sanitation, and shared public spaces.
Suggested inclusion: “Stigma refers to an attribute or characteristic which is considered damaged in some capacity, resulting in exclusion, shame, or silence. Stigma may also be rooted in inherited status and social hierarchies based on notions of “purity and pollution” and practices associated with “untouchability.” Women and girls affected by work- and descent-based discrimination, may experience stigma linked to perceptions that their identity, work, or social origin is “impure,” leading to segregation and exclusion from shared public spaces, including access to water, sanitation, education, healthcare, and other essential services. In the case of Roma women, such stigma may also manifest through antigypsyism and related forms of structural discrimination. Stereotypes, prejudices, and stigma are conceptually related rather than mutually exclusive categories.
Under section “B. Gender stereotypes and intersectional discrimination” ensure a similar paragraph is inserted on women discriminated against on the basis of work and descent
“Women experiencing work and descent based discrimination are often stigmatized due to their identity, the nature of their work, and the prejudice of them being inferior compared to the majority population. This stigma leads to social exclusion and human rights violations, which are then justified by the very stereotypes that fuel them. The persistence of notions of purity and/or pollution can also lead to socially enforced restrictions on family life and prevent marriages between DWD and non-DWD communities. Harmful cultural notions of “purity” and honor disproportionately target these women, imposing stricter social controls on their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), as well as on their bodies and choices. Roma women have also been disproportionately subjected to coercive sterilisation practices and segregation in maternity care, reflecting harmful assumptions about their bodies and reproductive autonomy. Dalit women who work as manual scavengers or sweepers suffer extreme forms of social exclusion, and sexual exploitation even within their own caste. Despite legislation banning manual scavenging, this degrading practice continues with grave implications for the dignity and health of Dalit women who are engaged in this activity. “
On Paragraph 26: While the draft correctly identifies the undervaluation of care work, for CDWD women, this is compounded by the social allocation of tasks. Stereotypes of “inherent” suitability for menial work trap women in segregated and hazardous service sectors, such as manual scavenging or sweeping, cleaning, waste collections, which are forced upon them based on their descent. healWomen workers from DWD communities can be forced to work in segregated and socially stigmatized service sectors traditionally assigned to them and may face severe difficulties in accessing employment outside of those sectors. There are DWD communities who are subjected to forced labour. Women from CDWD are often integrated into global supply chains as a source of low-cost labor. Women in slavery are at risk of being regularly beaten, intimidated, forcibly separated from their families and subjected to a range of other human rights violations, including sexual servitude and sexual assault. DWD community members who were victims of slavery, descendants of slaves and those who have recently escaped slavery may face discrimination and social exclusion. Dalits are regularly forced into the most menial, socially degrading, dirty and hazardous jobs. In some countries, caste-based systems have institutionalized exploitative practices, such as devadasi, badi, or jogini systems in South Asia, where Dalit women and girls are ritually dedicated and then sexually exploited, often under the guise of tradition. In certain countries, women at the lowest rank of caste systems can even be considered “slaves” and the absence of legal prohibition of caste-based discrimination can maintain complex caste systems. Often, DWD women are forced to take up a disproportionate share of unpaid domestic, care and support responsibilities, preventing them from participating equally in the workforce and public life, as well as from having sufficient rest to maintain their well-being.
Suggested inclusion: “… These professions are severely underpaid and undervalued and often involve prolonged work hours and unsafe working conditions. Women and girls from communities discriminated on work and descent are disproportionately concentrated in stigmatized, segregated, and hazardous forms of labour historically assigned on the basis of inherited status and social origin. In some contexts, women and girls from these communities continue to experience forced labour, slavery-like practices, and exploitation linked to caste- and descent-based systems.”
Including women affected by work- and descent-based discrimination in this paragraph would strengthen the intersectional analysis of gender stereotypes and labour inequality by recognising that care, domestic, and stigmatized labour are often shaped not only by gender, but also by inherited status, caste-like systems, and social origin. It would also acknowledge that women from CDWD communities experience structural and intergenerational forms of labour exploitation that remain insufficiently addressed within global gender equality frameworks.
On Paragraph 30: The Committee should explicitly reference forced sterilization and obstetric violence. Vulnerable communities, specifically Roma women, have historically faced non-consensual medical interventions and segregation in maternity wards, justified by discriminatory stereotypes regarding their fertility and hygiene.
Suggested inclusion: “..circumstances. Women affected by work- and descent-based discrimination, particularly Roma women, have historically been subjected to non-consensual medical interventions, including forced sterilization, as well as segregation in maternity wards, practices often justified by discriminatory stereotypes relating to their fertility, morality, and perceived “hygiene”.”
On Paragraph 34:
Suggested inclusion:
“…Harmful practices are committed, tolerated or condoned by both state and private actors, including family members, individuals, and religious and community leaders, as exemplified by the experiences of women affected by work- and descent-based discrimination, who often face intersecting forms of violence, social exclusion, restrictions on marriage and family life, and exploitation rooted in inherited status and notions of purity and pollution. The Committee is concerned over justifications of harmful practices based on sociocultural and religious customs and values, as well as constitutional and other provisions uncritically protecting the rights to culture and religion. “
Young women and girls affected by work and descent based discrimination are often forced to perform certain roles, functions and tasks, often linked with religious practices. The Trokosi system, predominantly in Ghana, Togo, and Benin, involves the enslavement of women and girls as a form of atonement to the gods for perceived wrongdoings either by them or their families. They are subjected to forced labor and sexual exploitation within shrines. The devadasi system, predominantly in India, also known as the ‘caste based temple prostitution' has resulted in sexual exploitation of Dalit girls and women due to inadequate implementation of legislations.
On Paragraph 37:
Suggested inclusion:
“…An evidence-based approach, including the collection of statistical data on prevailing stereotypes – can be a critical part of the assessment. States should undertake a methodologically rigorous and contextually grounded assessment of discrimination based on work and descent, with a particular emphasis on its intersectional impact on women and girls. Additionally, the collection and analysis of disaggregated and gender-sensitive data – in full compliance with data protection and privacy standards, are essential to accurately ascertain the prevalence, patterns and structural dimensions of such discrimination.”
“…based on entrenched stereotypes related to sex, gender, race, colour, LBTI status, and work- and descent-based status, including women affected by caste-like systems, inherited occupation, and descent-based discrimination, among other intersecting identities.”
On Paragraph 45:
We recommend noting that “cultural defense” arguments are frequently abused to justify violence against CDWD women. Perpetrators often benefit from a culture of impunity because judicial actors may hold stereotypical views that the subordination or sexual violation of women from “low” castes is socially acceptable or non-criminal.
Suggested inclusion: “…Judicial gender bias constitutes a barrier to women's access to justice free from discrimination. This is particularly acute for women affected by work- and descent-based discrimination who may face additional layers of prejudice rooted in inherited status, including assumptions of “impurity,” dangerousness, or dishonesty, which further undermine their credibility before justice actors. In some contexts, these stereotypes contribute to discriminatory treatment, including reluctance to register complaints, misclassification of cases, or dismissal of claims involving violence or exploitation against women from these communities.”
On Paragraph 46:
Suggested inclusion:
“…due to prevailing views about women's subordinate status. Women affected by work- and descent-based discrimination are particularly impacted in this context, as entrenched caste-like or descent-based stereotypes may influence evidentiary assessment and legal reasoning, including in cases of sexual and gender-based violence. In some instances, discriminatory notions of “purity” and inherited status shape institutional responses, contributing to disbelief, under-protection, or the minimisation of harm experienced by women from these communities.”
Conclusion
This submission underscores that dismantling gender stereotypes requires a structural and intersectional approach that explicitly recognises systems of inherited inequality, including discrimination based on work and descent. For women and girls from Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent, gender stereotypes are inseparable from caste-like and descent-based hierarchies that shape every aspect of their lives—from access to justice, education, health care, and decent work, to participation in public and political life.
GR 41 presents a critical opportunity to move beyond a universal framing of gender inequality and to address the specific and compounded forms of discrimination experienced by an estimated 270 million people worldwide. We therefore urge the Committee to ensure that women affected by work and descent-based discrimination are systematically integrated across all sections of the Recommendation, as both a matter of legal consistency under international human rights law and as an essential step toward meaningful equality.
We stand ready to continue engaging with the Committee and to contribute further evidence, lived experiences, and policy recommendations to support the full realization of a gender equality framework that is truly inclusive, intersectional, and transformative.
Founded in 2017, The Inclusivity Project advances the rights and dignity of communities discriminated against based on work and descent such as Dalits, Roma, Burakumin, Osu and Quilombola communities. Through research, advocacy, partnerships and capacity building, TIP works to address entrenched exclusion and promote the human rights of more than 270 million affected people worldwide.
The Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFoD) is a global platform advocating for the rights, dignity and equal access to human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals for communities discriminated against based on work and descent across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.
Contact:
Paul Divakar Namala
777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, United States
Email ID: pauldivakar@theinclusivityproject.org
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