Caste has been added to the city’s anti-discrimination laws.

This week, following a decision by its city council, the city of Seattle, Washington officially voted to ban all forms of caste discrimination within the city, adding the category to its existing anti-discrimination laws. This result follows the campaign efforts of multiple advocacy and rights groups, as well as lawsuits against large companies that have allegedly biased their hiring based on caste.

Caste is an older social system that divides individuals based on their birth or lineage, most prominently used in South Asian countries. While the system isn’t as widely used these days, especially in western countries, it still serves as a vector of discrimination, particularly among those of South Asian origin.

“Our movement has won a historic, first-in-the-nation ban on caste discrimination in Seattle!” City council member Kshama Sawant, who proposed the change, tweeted on Tuesday. “Now we need to build a movement to spread this victory around the country.”

“We got the support of over 200 organisations from Seattle and around the country … It’s a powerful message that Dalit people are not alone,” said Thenmozhi Soundararajan, executive director of advocacy group Equality Labs. “The South Asian community has united to say we want to heal from the trauma of caste.”