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Karnataka’s 2025 Devadasi Abolition Bill and the struggle for dignity in India

November 28, 2025

The Devadasi system, an ancient Indian religious practice where young girls were dedicated to temple service, has devolved from a prestigious cultural tradition into a hereditary system of sexual exploitation and social marginalization that persists despite being banned in 1947. Karnataka's 2025 Devadasi Abolition Bill represents a fundamental shift from previous prohibition-only approaches by emphasizing rights, rehabilitation, and participatory reform developed through consultation with over 15,000 affected women, activists, and scholars. The legislation grants legal identity to children born to Devadasi women, establishes paternity through DNA testing if necessary, provides inheritance rights, and offers pathways to economic independence through housing compensation and agricultural land allocation.

Who is affected

  • Devadasi women and girls currently trapped in the system (estimates range from 48,358 to 450,000 in India, with approximately 46,660 in Karnataka)
  • Children born to Devadasi women who have historically lacked legal paternal identity and inheritance rights
  • Temple management involved in encouraging or assisting the practice
  • Devadasi families requiring housing and agricultural land
  • The Devadasi community who participated in advocacy efforts
  • Manjula Malagi (Devadasi Helpdesk Coordinator at Sakhi Trust)
  • R. V. Chandrashekar Ramenahalli (National Law School of India University)

What action is being taken

  • The Karnataka government is implementing awareness campaigns, health education, and legal education to educate society on the issue
  • Over 15,000 Devadasi women, activists, and scholars were consulted throughout the Bill's drafting process
  • The Bill is granting legal identity and dignity to Devadasi children
  • The Bill is providing mechanisms for children to establish paternal identity through taluk Committees and District Courts
  • The state is granting compensation and housing to Devadasi families
  • Agricultural land is being preferentially reserved for registered Devadasi groups

Why it matters

  • This legislation matters because it represents a fundamental paradigm shift from failed prohibition-only approaches to transformative, rights-based reform that addresses the root causes of exploitation. The Bill acknowledges that decades of punitive laws have failed to eliminate the practice because they didn't dismantle the underlying social structures or provide alternatives for affected women and children. By granting legal identity, inheritance rights, economic opportunities, and treating Devadasis as active participants rather than victims, the legislation offers a comprehensive model for addressing entrenched systems of caste domination and gendered exploitation through dignity and agency rather than mere criminalization.

What's next

  • Children born to Devadasi women can approach taluk Committees to apply for recognition of paternal identity
  • District Courts can order DNA testing when fathers deny paternity
  • The State will preferentially reserve agricultural land for registered Devadasi groups to push them towards cooperative farming
  • Implementation of detailed parameters for housing regarding hygiene, comfort, and privacy

Read full article from source: Global Voices