CASTE, GENDER AND HEALTH INEQUALITIES: A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF MARGINALIZED WOMEN

Abstract

Health inequalities among women in India are deeply structured by caste and gender relations. Marginalized women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes experience multiple forms of deprivation that adversely affect their health outcomes. This qualitative sociological study examines how caste-based exclusion, patriarchal norms, and socio-economic disadvantages intersect to shape women’s health status and health-seeking behaviour in Karnataka. Drawing on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and secondary government data prior to 2013, the study explores access to healthcare, nutritional status, reproductive health, and decision-making power among marginalized women. The findings reveal that despite constitutional safeguards and welfare programmes, structural inequalities persist in access to quality healthcare, sanitation, and nutrition. Caste discrimination within health institutions, low literacy, poverty, and restricted mobility further compound women’s vulnerability. Government data from NFHS and Census sources indicate higher maternal mortality, anaemia, and unmet healthcare needs among SC/ST women compared to upper-caste women. The study argues that health inequalities cannot be addressed through medical interventions alone but require sociological understanding of power relations embedded in caste and gender hierarchies. The paper concludes with policy-oriented recommendations emphasizing culturally sensitive healthcare delivery, community participation, and gender–caste responsive health planning.