Kashmir's Hidden Casualties: Women Bear Brunt Of Decades-long Conflict

MIRPUR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Sep, 2024) Speakers at a seminar hosted by the International Muslim Women’s Union in collaboration with KIIR, AHRAAM, and others while highlighting the plight of Kashmiri women, said that the effects of the long-drawn Kashmir conflict were felt hardest by the Kashmiri women, who are more vulnerable to conflict than other segments of society.

The seminar titled “Women in Conflicts “was addressed by noted human rights activists, academicians, and international law experts hailing from different parts of the world in the Swiss city of Geneva late Friday,

The notables including Mrs. Shamim Shwal, Ms. Caroline Handschin Moussir, Barrister Margaret Owen, Ms. Wendi Momen, Ms. Zarin Hansworth, Ms. Settla Harris, Ms. Hadia Sartaj, and Ms. Naila Altaf Kanynie, who said a message reaching and being released to the media here on Saturday.

The event, titled "Women in Conflicts," highlighted the gruesome incidents of mass rape, sexual violence, and torture inflicted upon Kashmiri women by Indian forces. Speakers emphasized the need for global intervention, citing the Indian government's failure to hold perpetrators accountable and provide justice to victims.

The seminar remembered the 1991 Kunan-Poshpora mass rape incident, where 300 Indian soldiers raped women after dragging men out for interrogation. Despite years of struggle, the victims still await justice. The speakers criticized the Indian judiciary for delaying justice and appeasing the government, urging the international community to take action against the Indian government's human rights violations in Kashmir.

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