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F EATURE S
Life Stories WOMEN IN CONFLICT
Why are they Unaware of their Rights, Abilities, Strengths MANISHA SOBHRAJANI
I
had the privilege of interacting with a group of women from Jammu & Kashmir, and this group included women from Jammu, Srinagar and Ladakh. The diversity and variation within this group was startling, not just for me, but also for most of the women in the group. The 'divide' between the three regions of J&K is rather wellknown, and not something that needs any introduction. The group is involved in a humble attempt to document 'women's issues' across the state, and their coming together to share their opinions and disagreements, as much as their hopes and aspirations, was the first baby-step in that direction. The idea of documenting the kinds of issues Kashmiri women face in their day-to-day lives crept up in my thoughts while organising a travelling exhibition of posters from the women's movement, aptly titled 'Poster Women', in the Valley towards the end of 2007. Initiated by the Delhi-based feminist press Zubaan, the Poster Women project began with the idea of locating and archiving posters from across India from the early Seventies, a period that is characterised as having given rise to the Women's Movement in India. This exhibition travelled to many cities within the country with the aim of highlighting the Indian woman's fight against a patriarchal society. It put together a selection of posters created for various campaigns, with the vision of
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making the posters available to as many people as possible. The idea was for people -- men and women -- to be aware of the different issues faced by women in general. The exhibition aimed at inspiring them by introducing the history of Indian women's struggle for equal rights, family planning, reproductive rights, the banning of invasive contraceptives, access to health facilities, literacy, environment, political participation and also the tirade against domestic violence, communalism and marginalisation. While the posters were exhibited in the Valley, I tried to locate women's groups in Kashmir who might want to contribute to the existing collection of posters. Predictably, I found none. While there are numerous issues that women in J&K face – issues which have arisen out of the Kashmir conflict, and issues which women face anyway because they are women – there is no documentation or even acknowledgment of these. Perhaps we need to initiate this process at the women's level itself, to begin with. Most women in J&K – the difference amongst the Valley, Jammu and Ladakh not withstanding – have come to accept their state of lives as something which can't be helped, and needs to be accepted. It is here that we need to introduce the concept of the UN Resolution 1325. Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR1325) was passed unanimously on
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31 October 2000. It is the first resolution ever passed by the Security Council that specifically addresses the disproportionate and unique impact of war on women, and women's under-valued and under-utilized contributions to conflict resolution and sustainable peace. It urges women's equal and full participation as active agents in peace and security. The resolution reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. It also calls on all parties to conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, in situations of armed conflict. The unanimous adoption of SCR1325 was a watershed in the evolution of international women's rights and peace and security issues. It was the first formal and legal document from the United Nations Security Council that requires parties in a conflict to respect women's rights and to support their participation in peace negotiations and in post conflict reconstruction.1 In a broader sense of the term 'civil society', the regions of Jammu, Srinagar
Epilogue, December 2009