news details |
|
|
| Militancy led to sexual violence, too | | 1989 was the beginning of conflict period: MSF | | BL KAK
NEW DELHI | FEB 4
More than one in 10 had been victims of sexual violence in Kashmir since the beginning of the conflict, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The MSF is a humanitarian group, based in Holland. Its report, which is based on 510 interviews in the Kashmir Valley, has divulged that a third of its respondents suffered from psychological distress.
The survey group defined 1989 as the beginning of the conflict period. In the period from 1989 to 2005, people reported that they had frequently experienced a range of violence such as crackdowns--defined as the surrounding of houses and all occupants being asked to remain in one room during the search--as also frisking by security forces, round-up raids in villages and the destruction or threat of destruction of property.
The MSF report said: "Of particular concern was the prevalence of sexual violence revealed by the survey. Although the issue is not openly discussed in Kashmir, more than one in 10 people interviewed stated that they had been victims of sexual violence since the beginning of the conflict". In addition, one in seven had witnessed rape and nearly two-thirds had heard of cases of rape.
The report added: "Even taking into account different definitions of sexual violence in the region, which may have led respondents to include incidents of inappropriate touching in responses in this category, the occurrence of sexual violence is still unusually high". One in six interview respondents reported they had been illegally or legally detained, and more than three-quarters of those detained reported that they were tortured while being held.
According to the MSF survey, nearly one in 10 people reported having lost one or more members of their immediate family due to violence in the period from 1989 to 2005. The survey also revealed that people were forced to perform labour (33.7 percent), or to give shelter to militants (18.4 percent).
Not surprisingly, given the incidence of violence reported, approximately half the sample interviewed in the MSF survey reported they never, or only occasionally, felt safe. The responses to the Self-Report Questionnaire-- developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to measure psychological distress, particularly in developing countries-- also revealed that one-third of the respondents suffered from psychological distress.
The MSF report points to an acute need for a wide range of psychiatric and psychosocial support in Kashmir. There is only one mental asylum at Rainawari in Srinagar to cater to the needs of the entire Valley. The findings of the survey reveal a bleak picture of the mental health of people in the conflict-afflicted region and raise important questions about the government's failure to adequately provide mental health services to the population.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
