Gender and Human Rights

In keeping with its attempt to garner responses on issues that are important for women, the WISCOMP Athwaas initiative decided to raise awareness among the members of the samanbals on a bill that is likely to come up for discussion at the state legislative assembly in the foreseeable future, related to the contentious and sensitive issue of domestic violence.

At the heart of the matter was a radical piece of legislation namely the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA 2005). However because of the provision of Article 370 this act does not automatically apply to Jammu and Kashmir – it would have to be adopted with or without amendments or rejected by the state legislative assembly. It was in the context of the likelihood of this potential bill being raised in the state legislative assembly, that the awareness drive at the samanbals was initiated. This was designed to ensure that grassroots voices on a subject that clearly affects the lives of women could be articulated in the debates and discussions that would inevitably precede the passage of a bill with obviously significant consequences.

As part of the campaign to raise awareness about the potentiality and scope of such a bill and the implications of this on the lives of women especially in a zone of conflict, a series of workshops were held with samanbal workers in Jammu (Purkhoo camp), and with the student samanbal members of Bijbehara and the health worker samanbal members from Budgam and Pulwama. At these interactions the sensitive and difficult topic of domestic violence, its nature and manifestations both overt and covert as well as possible avenues for protection against it were discussed through sharing of information and fact sheets, role plays, screenings of music videos and group exercises. The overall framework of human rights formed the basic backdrop of the interactions. They were designed to highlight the intersectionality of private, public and political violence within the framework of the rights discourse.