Sexual Violence As War Weapon

Human history is replete with wars and conflicts that cause deaths, destruction and pile miseries on the vanTuished or subMugated people. The painful reality about them is that sexual violence against women is often employed as weapon of war and as a tactic to brutalize, humiliate, dominate and instill fear. According to U1ICEF, systematic rape is also often used as a tool in ethnic cleansing. 5egrettably this has been happening and continues to happen notwithstanding a number of U1 resolutions, International Humanitarian Law and International Human 5ights law under which states have accepted obligations to discourage and shun the use of rape in wars and conflicts. The reason is that powerful nations which wield tremendous influence in the management of international affairs, and in peace keeping, remain indifferent to forces carrying out such detestable and inhuman practices. Kashmir is a classic example of this indifference by the powers that be.

The conflict in Indian Occupied Kashmir IOK dates back to 1 8 when frustrated by the Indian intransigence to allow the people of Kashmir to exercise their right to

self-determination as enshrined in the U1 resolutions, they launched a freedom movement. So since -anuary 1 0, the state of -ammu and Kashmir has been the site of a continuous conflict between Indian security forces and Kashmiri freedom fighters. In its efforts to crush the freedom movement, India has been pursuing a policy of repression in Kashmir which has resulted in massive human rights violations by Indian army and paramilitary forces. They have assaulted civilians during search operations, tortured and summarily executed detainees in custody and also murdered them in reprisal attacks.

They have enMoyed impunity for these brutalities under Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1 0.The law provides sweeping powers to soldiers, including the power to shoot to kill in certain situations and to arrest people without warrants. They also provide virtual immunity from prosecution. The law has facilitated grave human rights violations, including extraMudicial executions, enforced disappearances, rape and torture and ill treatment of the people of IO-K. There are authentic reports that the Indian security forces have killed more than one hundred thousand Kashmiris since 1 8 to April 2020. The number of women who were raped stands at 11170 besides 22 13 women who were widowed. Independent sources including Amnesty International, Human 5ights Watch have been regularly compiling reports and providing testimony in regards to extensive abuse of human rights in IOK particularly indulgence in rape of women by the personnel of the Indian security forces.

At the 52nd United 1ations Commission on Human 5ights, Professor William aker gave testimony that rape in Kashmir was not merely a case of isolated incidents involving undisciplined soldiers, rather the security forces were actively deploying rape on the Kashmiri populace as a method of humiliation. An Amnesty International report in 1 2 stated that rape was conducted during counter-offensives against militants as part of a bid to methodically shame local Kashmiri communities.

A study in 2005 by Medicins San Frontiers concluded that the rate of sexual violence against Kashmiri women was one of the highest among the world’s conflict zones. Scholar Dara Kay Cohen from Harvard University listed the conflict in Kashmir, alongside osnia and 5wanda, as among the worst of the so-called mass rape wars. According to Human 5ights Watch, “there are no reliable statistics on the number of rapes committed by security forces in Kashmir. Human rights groups have documented many cases since 1 0, but because many of the incidents have occurred in remote villages, it is impossible to confirm any precise number. There can be no doubt that the use of rape is common and routinely goes unpunished.

One can imagine the plight of the widows whose husbands and the bread earners of the family have been killed by the Indian security forces. They are indeed living under miserable circumstances and finding it hard to maintain connection between their bodies and souls particularly when they are living under fear of the rampaging Indian security forces.

esides these widows there are also women in IOK whose husbands have been taken away by the Indian security forces during search operations never to be heard of again. These women called half-widows according to sources number between 1500 to 2500. Unaware of their husbands’ whereabouts, these women not only endure the grief that comes from being separated from their spouses but are also constantly struggling to survive. Their husbands either still alive in the custody of Indian forces or dead at their hands have not been declared deceased, hence the term half-widows. Left on their own, these Kashmiri women must make ends meet, and provide for their children. Since their husbands have not been proclaimed dead officially, they face challenges in inheritance. They also suffer from trauma and constant fear of being mistreated by the occupying forces that hunt, torture, and rape women at will. The social stigma attached to these women also adds to their woes.

The only thing that keeps them alive is the hope that one day they will be reunited with their husbands, and their children will hold their father’s hands. This hope alleviates their miseries and reduces their pain to some extent.

The situation in IO-K has become even more precarious and excruciating for the local people since 5th of August 201 with the repeal of article 370 and 35-A of the Indian constitution that ended special status of the state and its annexation through The -ummu and Kashmir 5eorganization Act 201 . The people of IOK are under continued curfew since 5th August. Two recent reports compiled by U1 Human 5ights Commission have also uneTuivocally indicated blatant abuse of human rights in IOK and demanded constitution of an inTuiry commission in this regard.

Kashmiris are looking up to the international community and U1 to come to their rescue and end their sufferings by fulfilling their obligations towards them. The permeating situation in IOK is an affront to the conscience of the world community. Will it respond to its conscience