By Sara Nazir 18 June 2023
Every new conflict brings a growing tide of human suffering, including fresh episodes of sexual assault, the oldest, most tabooed, and least decried crime in war. In the wake of escalating political and security crises, exacerbated by militarization and the illegal proliferation of armaments, sexual violence associated to conflicts continues to be used as a tool of war, torture, and terrorism against women, girls, men, and boys in all their variety. The notion of “conflict-related sexual violence” refers to any form of sexual violence against women, men, girls, or boys that is either directly or indirectly related to a conflict, including sexual slavery, rape, prostitution by force, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, forced sterilization, forced marriage, and other acts of comparable gravity. The word also refers to the trafficking of people subjected to sexual abuse or exploitation while taking place in a hostile environment.
International days or events are opportunities to raise awareness of pressing concerns, mobilize political will and funding to tackle world issues, and celebrate and highlight human achievement. The International Day for the ‘Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict’ was established by the United Nations General Assembly on June 19, 2015 to raise awareness of the need to end conflict-related sexual abuse, to honour the victims and survivors of sexual violence worldwide, and to pay tribute to all those who have bravely dedicated their time and lost their lives in standing up for the eradication of the such war crimes. The day was picked to mark the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008) on June 19, 2008, which denounced sexual assault as a weapon of war and an impediment to establishing peace.
Nearly one in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lives. Husbands or partners are often the ones that abuse women the most. A 2018 survey found that one in seven women had suffered physical or sexual abuse at the hands of a spouse or boyfriend. But one cannot deny the sexual violence that occurred in result of a conflict.
Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir is the long standing conflictual territory in South Asia and women in Kashmir have been subjected to sexual violence throughout the conflict. Due to repeated abductions, sexual assaults, wrongful detentions, and molestations committed by Indian security personnel under the guise of “Cordon and Search Operations,” the population of IIOJK, particularly the women, endures an ongoing nightmare of horror and agony. The most twisted form of oppression, rape, is being employed by Indian soldiers in IIOJK as a state-sponsored instrument. According to a recent report by Kashmir Media Service-2021, “Rape is punished as a matter of government policy in the occupied territory.” India intentionally targets Kashmiri women in an effort to humiliate and demoralize the local population, and it uses rape as a strategy of war to instill dread throughout the region. According to the most recent study by Kashmir Media Service, which was released in September 2021, Indian soldiers have abused more than 11,245 women in IIOJK over the previous three decades as a form of insurgency in the region.
According to the report, Indian army action in the occupied region has resulted in 22,923 women becoming widows since January 1989. Additionally, it was found that Indian forces assaulted 100 women in the villages of Kunan and Poshpora in IIOJK, ranging in age from 8 to 80, during the so called search operation on February 23, 1991. Following this occurrence, the security forces regularly and systematically used rape to terrorize the whole people of the disputed region. Over 28,000 rapes were recorded in India in 2020, and there has been a 63 percent rise in crimes against women reported in the first half of 2021, according to a study from the Statistic Research Department that was published on October 13, 2021. The Indian Army has been accused of kidnapping, extrajudicial executions, and rapes of Kashmiri men, women, and children, according to the Annual HRs Review 2019 (1 Jan – 31 Dec 2019). The study stated that “Children faced illegal and unjust detention, sexual abuse, and ill-treatment, including torture, at the hands of AFs, in addition to becoming victims of extrajudicial executions.”
According to a 2018 report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, authorities in India should “investigate and prosecute all cases of sexual violence suspected by state / non-state actors, and provide reparations to victims.” Human Rights Watch found a surge in rape activity in the impoverished and isolated areas of the occupied region following the repeal of Articles 370 and 35A. Indian civil and military authorities often conceal violations from the international community while denying UNHRC investigators access to the valley despite being a signatory to the UN and UNHRC. In order to stifle the innocent Kashmiri people’s constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom, Modi’s Hindutva supremacist administration continues to utilize rape and molestation as “weapons of war” and collective punishment in IIOJK. It is a flagrant breach of UNSC resolutions, international humanitarian law, and human rights law.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan also condemn the acts of Indian government by stating that, “The horrendous mass rape of Kashmiri women in Kunan Poshpura villages of IIOJK on 23 February 1991 continues to haunt the victims who still await justice. The Indian state machinery has perpetrated sexual violence with full impunity to silence, subjugate and stifle the people of IIOJK and stop them from demanding their legitimate right to self-determination, pledged in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. However, the resilient Kashmiris remain undeterred in their just cause”.
The MoFA further called international community to held India accountable for their inhuman actions in Kashmir, “The international community must take cognizance of the sexual crimes against the people of IIOJK and hold the perpetrators of these condemnable acts accountable through various mechanisms including sanctions against offenders of these grave crimes. India must be urged to respect its international obligations, especially those related to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, 4th Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocol 1. Pakistan will continue to raise its voice in favour of the oppressed and these victims of sexual violence. ”
Women in the Kashmir valley live in a life worse than a nightmare due to the heinous acts of violence, mental torment, and cruel brutalities against them. Kashmiri women also have to deal with psychological issues, economic constraints, and extrajudicial executions of their sons and spouses in addition to all this terrible treatment by the Indian government. With more than 900,000 personnel, the Indian Security Forces have been using rape as a weapon of war to ruthlessly crush and suppress the independence fight. In order to combat the rise in sexual and gender-based violence, harassment, and hate speech happening both offline and online, international collaboration must be strengthened. These issues diminish women’s and girls’ involvement in society, which poses a genuine threat to democracy.