Characteristics of the participants

We first describe the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants before presenting our results. Table 1 shows the characteristics of the study participants, who ranged in age from 22 to 64, and had a mean age of 30 (SD±10) years. More than half of the participants (9 out of 14) had received no formal schooling, which is far below the national level of over 60%. Overall, participants had received a mean of 2.9 (SD±1.3) years of schooling, and only three had received any education above the primary level.

The majority of the participants were engaged in cleaning activities for Dhaka City Corporation and private organisations, while the remainder were employed in household activities, as day labourers, or in garment factories. More than half of the participants (10 out of 14) lived with their extended family, and almost all (13 out of 14) were Hindu, with just one participant having converted to Christianity.

Table 2 presents the key demographic characteristics of the FGD participants. Five FGDs were conducted: (1) among six Agargaon Dalit men (mean age 28, SD±8 years); (2) among seven Agargaon Dalit women (mean age 32, SD±7 years); (3) among six Ganaktuli Dalit men (mean age 39, SD±7 years); (4) among eight female Ganaktuli Dalit women (mean age 24, SD±5 years); and (5) among nine Ganaktuli Dalit men (mean age 35, SD±6 years).

The dominant recurring themes were organised into categories reflecting the majority of interactive elements of the ‘social determinants of health’ framework (ie, socioeconomic and political context (including governance, macroeconomic policies, social and public policies, culture and societal values, untouchability, caste-based discrimination and social exclusion), socioeconomic position and intermediary determinants).

Space and power

In an attempt to contextualise our findings within the wider socioeconomic and political context, this section starts by providing a brief overview of the political history of the Dalit population. Accounts of the sociopolitical and economic dimensions of Dalit livelihoods help in understanding structural determinants of their health.

In Bangladesh, the majority of untouchable Hindu Dalits have Indian origins. In Bangladesh, as in India and Nepal, untouchable Hindus belong to the lowest social position at the base of the Varna system.6 During the reign of the Mughals, Dhaka was established as the commercial capital of the Bengal Subah by Subahdar (viceroy) Islam Khan in 1608. As the city grew to become one of the wealthiest and most prosperous cities in the South Asian region, the Mughal administrator appointed sweepers to maintain sanitation and cleaning activities.5 In the 1620s there was a large-scale migration of Dalit from India to Dhaka, which was precipitated by massacres by Burmese pirates in 1624–1626: they were required to remove dead bodies from the city.8 It is commonly believed that a large number of Dalits were brought to the city by British colonial administrators after Dhaka gained municipality status, to provide menial services.8 During the period of British colonial rule (1757–1947), Dalits (Telegu-speaking and Kanpuri sweepers) were brought to East Bengal (now Bangladesh) from the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and many other areas, including Bhagalpur, Motihari, Baliha, Patna, Maddaparpur, Uriya, Gorakhpur and Chapra.5 13 As the English administration rapidly developed townships and local municipalities, these populations were moved to meet the increasing need for sanitation workers.

The social position and status of Dalits are associated with their ancestral occupations, which were regarded as impure. Dalits are mostly employed by public and private organisations for sweeping activities, cleaning latrines, removing filth, skinning cattle, sweeping streets and houses. Despite the lack of official data on the economic condition of Dalits, some secondary sources claim that Dalits are engaged in low-paid manual work under severe discriminatory terms,13 and consequently earn much less than national average, with one source claiming that their income lies between BDT3000 and BDT5000 (considering BDT78=US$1) while the national average is BDT7203.13 Processes of occupational discrimination and unfair payment contribute to excluding the population from secure and safe dwellings. Dalit populations usually reside in unhygienic environments characterised by poor quality, insufficient and irregular water, electricity and gas provision. Overcrowded dwellings, narrow walkways and inadequate basic facilities, such as toilets and water taps, represent significant everyday challenges that become causes of further stigmatisation and marginalisation. Dalit populations often have to rely for access to these services on middlemen and informal brokers, called mastan (local thugs); they often rely on violence and illegal deals to negotiate access to resources. The interlacing of social structures and political processes shape the Dalits’ common everyday experiences of poverty and constitute their shared identity.

The material circumstances of the Dalit group in Dhaka city were identified as major intermediary determinants of their health status. Data from all this study’s sources (eg, IDIs, FGDs and KIIs) reported poor living conditions, their concentration in government-established slums, or so-called ‘colonies’, and their highly unsafe housing characterised by poor drainage, sanitation and water supply. Houses in government colonies had brick walls and corrugated iron sheet roofs, while those in private slums were constructed from bamboo, tin and wood. The sweeper slums were very overcrowded, with most respondents reporting that one small room housed 6–10 family members spanning three generations. The environment was also highly polluted, leading to extremely unsafe living conditions.

Sweeper slums also reported extremely unhygienic and inadequate sanitation conditions.14 Bacteria, parasites and disease vectors breed faster when sanitation and drainage systems are poor and when warmer and wetter conditions are prevalent all year round. Such poor living conditions are likely to increase the incidence of vectorborne/waterborne diseases and infections.13 34 For example, diarrhoea and respiratory infections, such as pneumonia, were commonly reported as the most frequent diseases among children aged less than 5 years old.13 In addition, malaria, dengue fever and kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis) were reported to be prevalent among all age groups.

The wider sociopolitical context influences the effects of these material circumstances and has multiple behavioural implications. The data collected from KIIs, IDIs and FGDs clearly indicate that health policies largely ignore the specific needs of Dalits. For example, policies concerning housing, the labour market and land emerged as restricting factors for health. Over centuries, Dalit populations have been allocated space in designated colonies, and Dalit families have shared very small living spaces from generation to generation. Data from all the sources reflected that, despite the potential for promoting basic housing facilities within the government-owned land, effective initiatives were never taken due to the lack of policy support. The respondents related that government policy favoured congregating Dalits in such designated colonies, rather than facilitating actions for housing supply and availability, and improving quality. One participant reported:

Government policy has never allowed any action that facilitates housing facilities for Dalit. They are living like this in colonies for generations; but, neither own nor improve its quality. (A key informant in Ganaktuli)

Although the government has issued policy statements and strategies for the redistribution of non-agriculture and agricultural khas land (government-owned fallow land) to landless people since the early 1980s, Dalits have not been considered as a potential beneficiary group. More than half of the participants reported that Dalits lack political power to influence the policy aspects in this regard. One of the participants stated:

You will see very minimal or no action taken from the govt to solve the housing problem of Dalit. I understand govt can take necessary initiatives easily but it does not take so. Why? I believe, Dalit has no power to influence govt policy aspects. (A 46-year-old man in Ganaktuli)

Therefore, the scope for improving health outcomes through facilitating housing conditions for Dalits in allocated khas land is constrained by government land policy. One respondent stated:

Landlessness is the first and foremost problem that impacts the overall wellbeing of Dalit. Dalit living conditions are beyond description. But it can be improved through distributing khas land to Dalit as it is provided to landless people. But, it is a matter of fact that Dalit cannot fill in the inclusion criteria set by the policy. (A key informant in Agargaon)

Furthermore, the participants, especially the community leaders and NGO workers, believed that the lack of government interventions restricted the potential for improving living conditions, which also affected the health status of the population.

Education and labour

An individual’s place in a given society can be described by the concept of ‘social position’, as proposed by Evans et al,35 which is generated and maintained under a broader social context. The social position of an individual is dynamically created by a number of elements, such as caste, religion or gender, which transmit intergenerational discriminations and inequalities. Similar to what Evans et al argue, when interviewing the participants we found that Dalits’ health can be seen as an outcome that is generated from social position, where an individual and/or group are unable to fully participate in society because of their sociocultural identity. The socioeconomic context has shaped Dalits’ engagement with educational institutions; Dalits face discrimination and are often deprived of education through various means. Our data found that less than 30% of Dalits had received formal schooling, compared with more than 65% of the national population. This figure tends to be even lower outside Dhaka city, as one respondent reported:

In Dhaka city you will find higher number of Dalit who have schooling especially among the younger generation. But, the figure will drastically fall if you consider among the whole number of Dalit across the country. (A Dalit activist and key informant from Ganaktuli)

Respondents reported that their children faced discrimination by educational institutions, for example, being denied admission to private schools, rejection and teasing by teachers or students. The school enrolment of Dalit girls has also decreased due to the practice of child marriage, which subsequently affected sexual and reproductive health. The very low literacy rate among Dalits resulted in little or no access to health information. One of the key informants reported:

Education is vital for improving health and general well-being. When an individual lacks education, he/she eventually will be in a worse position to negotiate access to services and information such as nutrition. Low literacy amongst the Dalit, in turn, affects their health and overall well-being negatively. (A key informant in Ganaktuli)

The participants further reported that the low level of education nurtured significant information asymmetries, which cause health-related misinformation, and limited occupational and income-earning opportunities. Participants reported that, due to their being excluded from mainstream society, Dalits were perceived to have poor levels of infant and child feeding, breast feeding practices, immunisation take-up and personal and family hygiene, with an unhealthy consumption of tobacco and alcohol, and so on. One participant stated that:

I have little or no educational background. It might diminish my understanding of things like whether and what extent things such as smoking bad for health? …what and how infant and young child should be fed? …what are good practices for washing hands? (A 56-year-old woman in Ganaktuli)

The data also revealed that little and/or no education narrows the occupational opportunities, and subsequently results in low incomes. In addition to poor educational quality, Dalit occupational opportunities are determined by other factors such as caste-based identities and heredity, and together with poor education this reduces their chance of improving their health status.

The data analysis also showed how the wider structural determinants interact with and influence the status of Dalits and their material circumstances. We found that the labour market both dynamically excludes and adversely includes Dalits by restricting their social and occupational mobility. The data gathered from community participants and key informants strongly suggest that Dalit ancestral occupations have limited their skill sets and continue to force them to expose themselves to high health risks and to rely on very low wages.

Exposure to a toxic physical environment while at work was commonly reported in the interviews and group discussions. Dalits are traditionally linked to their ancestral occupations, which were passed down from generation to generation. Consequently, the majority of Dalits are engaged in sweeping and cleaning activities, manually handling waste material and garbage while using no personal protective equipment. This exposes them to large amounts of dust, bioaerosols, volatile organic matter, airborne particulates, bacteria, noise and ergonomic stress. Multiple participants reported that sweepers frequently experience infections. As one participant explained:

Dalit always carry health risk with them at workplaces as they are dealing with very serious issues such as dumping garbage or removing dirt. But, they do not use protective equipment. […] We are more likely than non-Dalit to experience physical injuries or develop infections. (A 29-year-old cleaner in Agargaon)

Similarly, another participant noted:

Dalit sweepers don’t take any dust protective measure; therefore, they inhale it… I witnessed my colleagues develop respiratory infections and other airborne diseases. (A street sweeper in Ganaktuli)

Nonetheless, Dalit participants were not inclined to look for alternative occupations, as they said there was no scope for them to work outside of these historical, marginalised social spaces. Participants were highly aware of their role in the history of the country, and explained that they would face significant resistance if they tried to access occupations that did not conform to their low social and political status. Occupation-based discrimination, lingering poverty and social stigmatisation reduced their opportunities to participate in the labour market on equal terms (in relation to non-Dalits) and to engage with activities that were not considered ‘impure’. One FGD participant talked about how the lack of skills combined with long-established social norms strongly discourages Dalits from engaging differently with the labour market:

We are traditionally engaged in sweeping, as my ancestors did. I have no other skill except this. How can I do [anything else], for example, pulling a rickshaw or running a business? Similarly, people will not come and take a cup of tea if I operate a tea stall. (A 37-year-old cleaner in Agargaon)

This particular barrier is becoming increasingly problematic, as over 70% of the respondents reported that their access to sweeping jobs had become highly insecure and precarious; although initially the nature of their recruitment in sweeping activities was permanent, Dalits had more recently had to compete for their occupation with non-traditional Muslim sweepers. Although the city corporation’s sweeper recruitment policy states that the Dalits are given a quota, the authorities have not adhered to this system in recent years. The frequent recruitment of non-traditional sweepers by different government organisations and NGOs has considerably narrowed Dalits’ employment options, leading to financial hardship:

Some proportion of sweeping is reserved in government offices. However, non-Dalit sweepers are getting these jobs through bribes to political leaders and government officials. Where will we go for work? We will likely have to resort to unsocial and illegal activities to survive if this situation is not improved. (A housewife in Agargaon)

The lack of a sufficient and regular income limited Dalit participants’ capacity to afford basic necessities, including food, healthcare (particularly from private facilities) and education fees. Their average monthly household income ranged from BDT5850 to BDT8970 (considering BDT78=US$1), which was insufficient to buy three nutritious meals per day for an extended family.

Politics and relationships

Our data have identified a set of social and political factors in the given political and governance system that impact on the Dalit health status through stratifying individual positions on the basis of hierarchies of power and prestige, and access to resources. Due to their weak socioeconomic position, caste-based identity and discrimination, Dalits in the studied areas generally have a weak power of participation in political processes, both at the national and community levels. One of the participants from Ganaktuli reported:

Our sweeping identity shapes our world—our work, our rights, our opportunities, our limitations, it shapes everything. Hundreds of years we are living a confined life in a sense that the mainstream society maintains a greater distance as we belong to such a low caste. Where are we? …In education, in health, in politics? …nowhere. (Add details)

The lack of political participation generated by a lack of consideration and discrimination by other powerful groups limited Dalits’ opportunity to voice their needs and impeded their capacity to exercise other constitutional and human rights. Making a direct connection between political engagement and health, one participant voiced:

To my knowledge, no one from the Dalit community has appeared as a candidate in any election at national or community level. Even, they are likely to be less concerned about this. Such an absence in political process diminishes our capacity to protect communal interest concerning health. (A 34-year-old Dalit in Agargaon)

Data from interviews with key informants and group discussants indicated that factors relating to macroeconomic policies influenced the health of Dalits. Macrolevel policies were considered to be having a negative impact on their health status and health-seeking capacity, and public allocations for social protection and healthcare schemes continued to exclude people living in urban settings. One of the key informants reflected on the situation:

Government policy only provides safety-net support for poor in the rural setting. However, the Dalit are concentrated on the big cities and smaller towns. …therefore we are not eligible for that. (A key informant in Agargaon)

This policy significantly affected Dalits’ capacity to seek and afford treatment in settings where they were exposed to regular health shocks and hazards. For example, in the existing health policy, two-thirds of healthcare costs are financed via an out-of-pocket mechanism,36 and the urban poor experience limited or no healthcare support. Participants reported that having no social protection schemes meant that they had to rely on considerable out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure in order to access healthcare from both public and private facilities. The low income-earning capacity of Dalits interacted directly with their individual socioeconomic condition, particularly for those suffering from chronic health conditions that required prolonged and continuous care and medication. The inability to afford treatment was frequently reported as an important barrier to better health by respondents suffering from cardiac issues, diabetes and renal disease due to out-of-pocket costs. One of them said:

I have been suffering from diabetes for the past years. The doctor prescribed several drugs that I imperatively need to continue taking to control my sugar levels. I cannot afford such drug for rest of my life […] you will never expect to get diabetic drug free of cost. (A street sweeper in Ganaktuli)

Some participants highlighted the heavy reliance on expensive private health service providers as a significant determinant of bad health. They indicated that an individual’s health status tended to deteriorate when they needed to access healthcare services from a local private institution. A key informant in Ganaktuli explained that local private healthcare facilities generally tended to be better equipped than local government facilities, and increasingly played a ‘vital role in healthcare services delivery.’ However, he noted:

If the problem is not minimal and, you must seek consultant at private facilities this involves huge expenses that are most likely beyond the capacity of Dalit. …I know a few individuals who have been suffering from chronic disease but fail to take care from private clinics due to the cost incurred. (A key informant in Ganaktuli)

Beyond the costs incurred by care, participants also identified the behaviour of healthcare professionals in public and private facilities as barriers to their accessing better health. Respondents shared experiences of entrenched stigmatisation and discrimination that hampered their willingness and motivation to see a doctor, thereby generating a process of self-exclusion from these facilities.

The Dalit identity generates considerable caste-based discrimination, enhancing exclusion, broadening inequalities and restricting them from accessing healthcare. Dalit people, considered untouchable due to their traditional employment that brings them into contact with human excreta, dirt, garbage, bad odours, dead bodies and other elements, are defined by others by their impurity. One participant described how mainstream society perceives the Dalit, and the following quote denotes how societal perceptions have been internalised by Dalits themselves:

We are methar [a Bangla colloquial term signifying degradation, disgust], nothing more than that. Our position can be nowhere else but at the bottom of the society. (A 34-year-old scavenger in Agargaon)

These socioeconomic mechanisms and Dalits’ identity interact with other factors to create psychosocial factors that determine their health status. Due to social discrimination and exclusion, Dalits often lose their self-worth and experience depression and shame. Such feelings in turn lead to social isolation and further narrow individual and/or community participation in health programmes. The participants further stated that Dalits could not fully participate in community-based health programmes focusing on child and maternal health, the promotion of nutrition, immunisation, sanitation and hygiene. One participant explained the situation as follows:

Dalit are social excluded and discriminated in many ways. Due to such discrimination and exclusion, they might lose self-esteem to be open-minded in participation of community-led health programmes. (A 34-year-old cleaner in Agargaon)

Prejudices against the Dalits are also reproduced by healthcare workers. Most respondents reported that healthcare workers were more likely to consider their health problems to be less serious than those of non-Dalits in order to limit the amount of time spent with them and their exposure to ‘impurity’. In small townships and localities outside Dhaka city, for example, in primary-level healthcare facilities where Dalits are easily identified by locals, they reported being more likely to face such prejudice and discrimination from healthcare workers. Multiple participants echoed the following experience of visiting a health facility:

Sometimes we do not disclose our identity to avoid neglect and unpleasant situations. … I can tell you a tragic story about the hospital admission of a Dalit woman. She was denied to get hospital admission and was kept lying on the floor of the balcony because she was a Dalit. Meanwhile, she developed additional problems—common cold, fever and breathing difficulties in such cold weather. Only later, when we put the issue forward the hospital authority admitted her and provided a bed. (A 51-year-old Dalit rights activist in Ganaktuli)

Several participants described a lack of attention from healthcare workers, and difficulties in obtaining adequate information regarding their health problems and required treatments. The following excerpt reflects this situation:

Doctors/nurses are unwilling to discuss details regarding any health information or health intervention in the facilities. They just provide minimal medicine and maintain indifference when asked about a health-related problem. (A 55-year-old leather worker in Ganaktuli)

Such negligent and discriminatory behaviour on the part of healthcare providers made Dalits hesitant to participate in health promotion activities to enhance their own health, and even influenced their decisions to delay seeking treatment for infectious diseases. One of the key informants explained how the sociopolitical position of the Dalit community impacted on the care-seeking behaviour of Dalits:

The Dalit live as a minority within the mainstream. All aspects of their lives—such as profession, access to services, rights and obligations, decisions, and so on—are determined and ascribed by these social and political contexts. (An NGO worker in Ganaktuli)

Denied access to formal and informal safety nets, this marginalisation is reinforced by idiosyncratic forms of discrimination based on class, gender, physical ability and age in particular. Undernutrition of low-income (often extreme poor) adolescent girls, pregnant mothers and elderly widows was found to be particularly severe. Health inequalities experienced by Dalits were also influenced by the manner in which policies are developed and translated into practice. One key informant stated:

The state did not consider that context-specific healthcare provision might be effective for providing services to this kind of disadvantaged group of people. We need the formulation of policies that cover the delivery of health services to the Dalit and other groups of people who are in an unfavourable position to seek care. (A Dalit rights activist in Agargaon)

In addition, some respondents reported that being a Dalit was associated with behaviours that negatively affected their health. Many respondents claimed that male Dalits were likely to consume high quantities of low-quality alcohol and tobacco, noting that this behaviour can be explained by the difficult occupations and psychosocial pressure they experienced. Exposure to bad odours, dirt and dead organisms can induce vomiting and appetite loss, and according to some respondents consuming alcohol and cigarettes mitigated the negative psychological and physical effects of this type of work. Historically, Dalits have been characterised by such depictions and so this is not new; it is beyond the scope of this research to assess the veracity of such claims. However, what is noteworthy is how such claims serve to further stigmatise members of this population group, who according to some respondents, are ‘habituated to consume alcohol and tobacco products’ as they believe it is ‘a habit rooted in their occupational roles and psychosocial identity’ (a 23-year-old scavenger in Agargaon). Our data suggest that Dalit children living in marginalised settlements suffer from stigmatisation and are therefore constrained in their physical mobility and social interactions. Although it was not possible to measure the physical growth of children due to the nature of this study, participants reported that children, particularly those aged under 5 years, were likely to be undernourished. Poverty, low health information and awareness, and physical environment were reported as the most likely causal factors for such poor physical and social development of young children.

As a response to the hostile wider sociopolitical context and challenging material circumstances, traditional health practices and rituals are widely practised within the Dalit community. Religious beliefs and spirituality influence their health status and attitudes towards seeking treatment. It was, for example, found that low-income Dalits adhering to strict religious beliefs were more likely to rely on faith-based healing for sexual and reproductive health, pregnancy care and infant and child feeding practices.