Muslim women under the impact of On-going conflict in Kashmir

This research unfolds the issues of Muslim women living under the influence of the ongoing conflict in Kashmir. It unravels the different aspects of a conflict situation such as militarization and armed struggle and attempts to answer how they directly influence the lives of these women. This study further elaborates on the kinds of violence that women suffer and the scenarios in which they are perpetrated. The huge impact of militarization is more so manifested as physical and sexual abuse and has ethnic dimensions on the site of Muslim woman s body. It also shows that sexual abuse is used to demean the women and their community at large and is systematically perpetrated against them. The impact of conflict on family life of the women which leads to violence within the family. Conflict has impacted the lives of women by reinforcing the patriarchy which aggravates the women s social position. Stigma suffered due to sexual violence and detention in army camps also leads to change in the social positioning rendering women vulnerable to violence within family. This study also reveals that the aspects of health and economic status of women are influenced.

Autorentext

Ms. Inshah Malik is from Kashmir. She has a Masters in Social Work and an Mphil in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. She has exclusively worked on Human Rights, Women's Rights and Kashmir's freedom movement.She works on a Phd entitled 'Women's Agency in Kashmir protests' at Jawaharlal Nehru University, India.