Sexual exploitation of Women And Girls By Militants in Kashmir

Not all marriages are created in heaven. Many women and young girls in Jammu and Kashmir would tell you that some of them are stigmatised by a gun's barrel.

Numerous instances of young Kashmiri women being forcedly wed to militants have surfaced. Numerous media detailed how terrorists and their allies frequently kidnapped and tortured women from remote places until they agreed to marry them. Forced marriage to terrorists has wrecked havoc on their lives in the insurgency-affected state.

The recent The Diplomat article detailing the sexual exploitation of teenage women by militants became a hot topic in Kashmir. This is a well-known fact that we prefer not to linger on or talk about. We don't want to admit that armed militants have sexually assaulted Kashmiri women in hundreds of incidents. Since years, women and girls have suffered severe abuse, frequently with the knowledge of the family. The "upholders of justice" were the group's self-described militants. However, many of them did not spare little girls under the age of 12. These women and girls were unable to talk to anybody about their ordeal for many years. They didn't say anything out of concern that their loved ones might be slain if they did.

Women who were married to militants frequently became widows when their husbands were slain in clashes. Many women were forced to live in poverty when their husbands crossed into Pakistan and never came back. The women were left to care for the family' food while also having children. The widows of militants or the women they deserted don't even apply for government support programmes due to stigma and even ignorance. As a result, they are powerless and poor. The future is bleak for their children. In order to make ends meet, these women are frequently compelled to take desperate actions like selling their bodies. They are then appraised by society and viewed as undesirable women.

There have been numerous cases of people judging women who were abandoned by militant husbands. Their kids are orphans now. They lack any documents that would allow them to take advantage of government programmes.

Women have suffered and do suffer in a variety of ways. Women who support libertarian and militant causes still experience hostility from the state and government. Social outcasts are those who have ties to counterinsurgents or renegades.

Although the state and the Center have offered numerous programmes, the wives and children of militants who have died or fled the country are not eligible to participate in these programmes. These women are vulnerable because of the societal stigma they face.

Due of their connections to terrorists, the state departments are powerless to assist them. Both the children and the widows of militants who have left their husbands are subject to this stigma. They are mostly disregarded by society.