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Ashwini K. P. Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 28, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth1986

Age36 Years

BirthplaceChikkaballapur, Karnataka, India

ProfessionSocial Activist, Academician, Teacher

NationalityIndian

FamilyFather - Prasanna Kumar; Mother - Jayamma

Ashwini K. P. Biography

Ashwini K. P. is an Indian academic, teacher and human rights activist from Karnataka. A Dalit woman and follower of Ambedkarism, she has worked in higher-

Early life and background

Ashwini K. P. was born in 1986 in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka, and grew up in Bengaluru. The daughter of Prasanna Kumar, a retired Karnataka Administrative Services officer, and Jayamma, she attended schools in Bengaluru including Ladyhill Victoria Girls High School and Mount Carmel Central School.

She completed undergraduate and graduate studies in history, economics and political science, earning a BA and an MA in Political Science. Ashwini went on to pursue research in South Asian studies, completing an MPhil and a PhD in the same field. Her academic work includes theses on land reforms in Karnataka and on the international dimensions of Dalit human rights, with comparative work on India and Nepal.

Career

Ashwini’s early activism began while she was still in school and continued through her university years. While at Jawaharlal Nehru University she joined student organisations focused on Dalit rights and participated in campaigns against caste-based oppression. In 2014 she volunteered with Friends Charitable Trust and was part of a team that represented Dalit concerns at the United Nations.

Her academic career has included roles at several institutions. In 2015 she organised events for the Centre for the Study of Discrimination and Exclusion at JNU and worked as a lecturer in the Department of Political Science at St. Joseph’s College, Karnataka between 2015 and 2016. She served as guest faculty in the Political Science department at Mount Carmel College, Karnataka, during 2016 and later joined St. Joseph’s University, Karnataka, as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science in 2019.

Alongside teaching, Ashwini has produced research on social exclusion and caste-based discrimination. Publications attributed to her include studies on the experiences of Dalit students in higher education, the marginalization of Dalit women in Nepal, and the global dimensions of caste-based discrimination and Dalit human rights.

Her work in civil society and campaigning includes a stint with Amnesty International as a senior campaigner from 2017 to 2019, where she organised campaigns addressing the rights of Adivasis and women. She co-founded Zariya: Women’s Alliance for Dignity and Equality with Mariya Salim in 2019 and worked with Project Mukti as a researcher. Earlier, she was involved with Project Mukti’s Dalit History Month in 2018.

United Nations role

In late 2022 Ashwini was selected by the United Nations Human Rights Council as the Special Rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. She began a three-year tenure on November 1, 2022, after being chosen during the UNHRC session in October 2022. As Special Rapporteur she has stated priorities that include casteism, apartheid, religion-based violence, discrimination against migrants, and gendered dimensions of racism, with particular attention to the experiences of women and LGBTQIA+ people within racist and exclusionary systems.

Public profile

Ashwini identifies with Ambedkarism and follows the teachings of B. R. Ambedkar. She is a practicing Buddhist and is publicly described as belonging to a Dalit background. Her stated interests outside professional life include photography, travel and painting. Social media references indicate she follows a non-vegetarian diet.

Her public work has at times met resistance; she has spoken about experiences of caste-based discrimination and an incident in which she received a threat while speaking on women’s empowerment and Dalit rights during a lecture.

Latest updates

Ashwini continues to serve in the UN Special Rapporteur role through the three-year term that began in November 2022. Her work combines academic research, teaching and human rights advocacy with a focus on caste-based discrimination, gendered impacts of racism, and the rights of marginalized communities.
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Recent Work

Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance

Selected by the United Nations Human Rights Council; three-year term began 1 November 2022.

2022
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Career Highlights

  1. Selected as UN Special Rapporteur on racism and related intolerance (term began November 1, 2022).
  2. Senior campaigner at Amnesty International (2017–2019).
  3. Co-founder of Zariya: Women’s Alliance for Dignity and Equality (2019).
  4. Assistant professor, Department of Political Science, St. Joseph’s University (from 2019).
  5. PhD and MPhil in South Asian Studies with research on Dalit human rights and social exclusion.
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Ashwini K. P. born?

1986

What is Ashwini K. P. known for?

Social Activist, Academician, Teacher