The world we live in is a world of war, insecurity, and fear. And in this world of chaos and violence, women have been severely affected.
As men move out of their homes for war, women are burdened with the duty of keeping the social fabric of the community intact. Dealing with that responsibility, while living under the arduous conditions of war is quite strenuous. The role of women as stakeholders, actors, and peace-builders has not yet been explored. Instead, their suffering has been buried, like those martyred from the war, hidden away & stigmatized.
Because of their already unequal status in society, women are especially affected by conflict. Disappearances, gender-based sexual violence, inaccessible healthcare, abject poverty, and loss of family members are situations unfortunately frequent during war. These affect women disproportionately, but are rarely discussed in international forums. A study by Graça Machel, winner of World’s Children’s Prize for Rights of the Child, on children in areas which are conflict zones, found that women have an important role to play in instilling feelings of reconciliation in children. Thus, treating their problems as secondary is, perhaps, deteriorating the condition of children from such regions further.
Though usually not involved in the decisions leading to conflicts or their resolution, wars allows women greater participation in decision-making processes, especially in the household, due to their expanded economic role in society. Women in war-torn areas have to act to preserve social order, provide for their children and families, and play key roles in food production.
Taking on the role of the “breadwinner of the family”, which is traditionally considered a male member’s duty, women experience a greater equality in society.
Even in politics, women representation increases in cases where a government is formed post-conflict. Studies find that countries coming out of a conflict that challenges the composition of the government see higher women representation.
Graça Machel herself was one such person! She was the Minister of Education in post-conflict Mozambique, and held that post for about ten years.
However, such benefits do not always translate and sustain themselves in a post-conflict period, due to normalization of violence and the venomous patriarchal mindset that deems women inferior.
Incidents of violence against political women increase, and deter women from pursuing a route of 'public’ life. So, while women from post-conflict regions might, initially, have greater participation in national politics, and examples like Graça Machel exist, there exist a greater number of examples of women whose voices were forced to succumb to sexism.
In the Valley of Kashmir, these problems are especially prevalent. The Crown of India has been bearing the brunt of a dispute between India and Pakistan for about 70 years now, and women have been the most disregarded and overlooked victims.
They have been made victims of gender-based violence, since the inception of the conflict. When tribal forces moved inwards towards Jhelum, they raped hundreds of women, to assert their dominance, without consequences.
Often, women are used as a ‘weapon’ during warfare. Examples of such incidents, unfortunately, are seen in every situation of conflict — be it Korea in the Second World War, or the post-Godhra anti-Muslim rape violence.
Gender-based sexual violence (rape, forced prostitution, genital mutilation, sex-slavery, and so on) is an extension of the battlefield, meant to humiliate the perceived enemy, for failing to protect the women of their community.
Though this pattern is observed in the Valley, it is not a recent phenomenon. In 1991, in Kunan-Poshpora, the Indian Military conducted a search operation. Civilians’ houses razed by troops; men brutally tortured; women mercilessly raped.
In 2013, when a group of women came forward to report the crimes, no action was taken. In fact, it was only then that the tragedy was ever publicly discussed on a large scale — 22 years later.
This goes to show how women’s concerns in a post-conflict area are treated as lesser.
In a country like India, where women are under a constant threat of violence, a safe space that allows women, especially those afflicted with violence, to discuss their issues openly, to engage in public life without fear, and to be themselves, must exist. Though policy-makers still grapple with the question of how this can be done, riveting examples are seen in Yemen, Afghanistan, and even Kashmir!
On a chilly August evening, 70 years ago, two nations —India and Pakistan— were created. A season later, a female militia was made in India with the aim of teaching women how to protect themselves in the years of violence that were to follow. They were depicted in the media as brave, full of purpose, and determined. Though never active, they trained for a year and half. Even today, former members speak of the women militia with pride and warmth. Such post-conflict policy inclusion (not necessarily a trained militia) is a highly crucial step to realizing sustainable peace in such regions.
It is time we see women as healers, peace-builders, as more than just weapons or victims of war; that we open our eyes to the possibility of women being agents of change.