Outreach

Caste, Privacy, & Digital Technologies

Our co-founder, Nikita Sonavane joined Manoj Mitta for a conversation aimed to unpack the intricate relationship between technology and caste dynamics, specifically, how digital platforms increasingly play a critical role in further deepening divides as opposed to bridging them. Additionally, they also outlined how the datafication of marginalised communities has been central to their surveillance.

भट या वम समहाचा इतहास आण वतमान

Nikita Sonavane joined Raju Kendra, Deepa Pawar, and Sanjay Kolekar for a session on 'Nomadic Communities: Directions of Contemporary Development.' The session was part of the 'Past and Present of Nomadic Communities,' a one-day National Seminar organized by the Department of History at Savitribai Phule Pune University to commemorate Vimukta Day.

Panel: Biometric Surveillance in Colonial States India, Palestine, US

Nikita Sonavane joined Kenia Hale, SQ Masood, Mona Shtaya, J. Khadijah Abdurahman, Hoda Katebi and Fabian Rogers for a panel on Biometric Surveillance in Colonial States, a virtual thesis mini-conference by Nikhil Dharmaraj.

Panel Discussion: 50 Years of ‘Project Tiger’ Community Voices Against Protected Areas

Mrinalini Ravindranath joined Telenga Hasa, JA Shivu, Pakhiraj Rabha, Mohammed Meer Hamza and Yerumai Rajan for a panel discussion on 50 years of ‘Project Tiger’ and the community voices against protected areas. 

Casteist Criminality: The Case Of 'Habitual Offenders' In India

Nikita Sonavane was invited to deliver a lecture on 'Casteist Criminality and Habitual Offenders' at IISER Bhopal. Drawing from CPA Project;s work, the lecture focused on the carceral legacy of the Criminal Tribes Act.

Instagram Live: Wildlife Protection Act - IDR Online

Mrinalini Ravindranath joined Shreya Adhikari of IDR Online for a conversation on the Wildlife Protection Act and its disproportionate impact on lives and the livelihoods of marginalised castes. 

Construction(s) of Female Criminality Gender, Caste and State Violence

Nikita Sonavane joined a discussion on the construction of female criminality and its correlation with gender, caste, and state violence. The discussion was organized by the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge.

Mighty Margins: Asserting from the Margins to Move Mindsets

Nikita Sonavane joined Siddhesh Gautam for a conversation at the Bangalore International Centre. The session was part of the exhibition curated by Meghana Parik and featured several arts that spoke to marginalisation and intersectionality that cuts across lines. 

Discussion: Construction(s) of Female Criminality Gender, Caste and State Violence

Nikita Sonavane was invited for a discussion on Construction(s) of Female Criminality Gender, Caste and State Violence, organised by the Nomad Liberty Movement to mark the Vimukta Month. The session was moderated by Komal Devkate.

Panel: Adivasis and (In)Justice Systems Organised by Adivasi Lives Matter

On behalf of CPA Project, Mrinalini Ravindranath moderated a panel discussion joined by C R Bijoy, Astha Saxena & Garima Sidar (from CPA Project) on the justice system and criminalisation of Adivasis in India. This was part of the SDG Dialogues the Adivasi Lives Matter organisation in collaboration with Belongg with support from Dalberg had organised.

Discussion: Carcerality, Caste and Policing

Nikita Sonavane joined the Decolonising the law discussion group at Faculty of Law, University of Oxford for a conversation about the construction of casteist criminality in the law, through the criminalisation of Denotified Tribes/Vimuktas. 

Panel: Reproductive Justice: A Discourse In Centring Access

On behalf of CPA Project, Nikita Sonavane joined Blas Radi, Maria Ní Fhlatharta, Prof. Mytheli Sreenivas for a panel on “Reproductive Justice: A Discourse In Centring Access.” The panel was moderated by Vqueeram and was organised as a part of the global symposium on Global Reproductive Politics, Reproductive Justice and the Limitations of Law organised by the Centre for Justice, Law and Society, Jindal Global Law School in collaboration with Sruti Disability Rights Centre, TransCare India, Rising Flame, ARROW, Center for Reproductive Rights (Asia), Transmen Collective and CommonHealth. 

Discussion: Police Accountability and the Criminal Identification Bill 2020 by NLIU Manthan

Members of the Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project, Nikita Sonavane, Aditi Pradhan, Mrinalini Ravindranath joined for a discussion on the Police Accountability and the new Criminal Identification Bill, 2020. The discussion was organised by NLIU Manthan: Centre for Knowledge and Policy Discussion on 19th April 2022 as part of their series of discussion Baithak. During the discussion, our colleagues highlighted the aspects of the newly introduced law, drawing from our experience on the field as lawyers. 

Moderation: Caste of Dissent | Anti-Caste Histories and Solidarities Lecture Series

Nikita Sonavane, CPA Project’s Co-founder moderated the session with Disha Wadekar titled Caste of Dissent on 16th April 2022. This was part of the lecture series ‘Anti-Caste Histories and Solidarities’. It was hosted by DBAV Women, Trans and Non-binary People's Collective, and SASAS in collaboration with Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.

Panel: Intersectionalities and Incarceralities by the Centre for Women’s Rights, Jindal Global University

On behalf of CPA Project, Sanjana joined Niti Saxena and Vijay Hiremath for a panel discussion moderated by Surabhi Singh. The panel discussion was organised by the Centre for Women’s Rights on 30th March 2022. The panel discussion delved deep into gender and the current context of criminalisation in India driven by casteist, hegemonic policies and approaches.

Panel: Gendered Access to Justice by One Future Collective

On behalf of CPA Project, Nikita Sonavane joined Blas Radi, Maria Ní Fhlatharta, Prof. Mytheli Sreenivas for a panel on “Reproductive Justice: A Discourse In Centring Access.” The panel was moderated by Vqueeram and was organised as a part of the global symposium on Global Reproductive Politics, Reproductive Justice and the Limitations of Law organised by the Centre for Justice, Law and Society, Jindal Global Law School in collaboration with Sruti Disability Rights Centre, TransCare India, Rising Flame, ARROW, Center for Reproductive Rights (Asia), Transmen Collective and CommonHealth.

Guest Lecture: Marginalised Communities in Indian Prisons at WDC, Miranda House

Members of the Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project, Aditi Pradhan and Sanjana Meshram joined the Women’s Development Cell at Miranda House as guest speakers on 20th February 2022. The closed session covered the conditions of imprisonment concentrating on minority prisoners, especially with respect to gender and caste etc.

Keynote: Criminal Histories - Caste, Gender and the Criminal (In)Justice System

Nikita Sonavane delivered a keynote address at the #LoveSexAndData conference, a 3-day digital conference organised by Agents of Ishq and The YP Foundation. Through this keynote address, using the analysis of arrest data and bail orders passed against Vimukta women in Madhya Pradesh, Nikita demonstrated how Adivasi and Vimukta women’s bodies get constituted as criminals and continue to be the sites of casteist state repression.

Settled Habits, New Tricks: Casteist Policing Meets Big Tech in India

Avaneendra Khare, Nikita Sonavane, Srujana Bej & Vaishali Janarthanan were invited for a conversation on Tech Policing hosted by IFF on 18th June 2021. The event focussed on CPA Projects’s work in this area, especially after the paper titled, “Settled Habits, New Tricks: Casteist Policing Meets Big Tech in India” published on TNI Long Reads. The discussion, moderated by IFF's ED Apar Gupta featured the authors of the paper for the IFF Community.

Instagram Live: After the Cameras Leave

Nikita Sonavane joined Manjula Pradeep, Nazni Rizvi for an instagram live moderated by Riddhi Dastidar of Sound Fury & 4G. The session was organised by Khabar Lahariya and Sound Fury 4G with an aim to discuss caste-based gender violence and how India’s justice system abandons Dalit, OBC and Adivasi communities with a diverse group of women who work at the intersection of law, media and activism. 

Twitter AMA: Pandemic and Police

CPA Project joined for an Ask Me Anything session on Twitter organised by Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network, as a part of their #LockdownCasteAtrocities campaign. The campaign highlighted the cases of atrocities against Dalits during the Covid 19 lockdown.

Panel: The Rhetoric of Legal Reforms: Abortion, Gender and the State

Our Co-founder Nikita Sonavane joined Nidhi Goyal, Sunita, Vqueeram for a conversation on the abortion laws and the legal reforms in India moderated by Bhanupriya Rao and Dipika Jain. The event was organised by BehanBox and the Centre for Justice, Law and Society.

Police Session: Prime Time - Bahujan Way

Nikita Sonavane joined five six individuals to discuss mental health and what community means to them, their leaders, love, friendships etc. The event was organised by the Blue Dawn.