Biography: Dr Ashwini K.P. is an academic, activist and human rights expert who currently serves as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Her research area focuses on caste, race, social exclusion, intersectionality, and descent-based discrimination within an international human rights framework. In addition, she has worked particularly on Dalit and Indigenous communities in India with a strong commitment to advancing the representation and leadership of women from marginalised communities. She is also the co-founder of Zariya, a non-profit organisation

working with marginalised women and promoting inclusive knowledge creation. She is also a visiting Fellow at Stanford University.