WOMEN'S UN REPORT NETWORK - WUNRN KASHMIR-INDIA WOMEN'S CHALLENGES FOR SECURITY, RIGHTS, EQUALITY AGAINST CONFLICT, FOR PEACE IN KASHMIR UN Human Rights Council June 2016 Geneva, Switzerland WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN®

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® "HALF WIDOWS" SUFFERING, STRUGGLES IN KASHMIR By Shagufta Ashraf, Kashmir Institute of International Relations & Lecturer at AJK University. Because of protracted conflict in Kashmir for 22 years, there are currently over 1500 "half widows" - wives of disappeared or missing husbands, in India's Kashmir. These "half widows" face economic, social, and emotional hardships, plus physical and mental health issues. Their children suffer multiple adverse effects.

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® KASHMIR MAP

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® UN Commission on the Status of Women – Session 59 - Panel KASHMIR WOMEN'S SUFFERING IN PROTRACTED CONFLICT CHALLENGES FOR SECURITY, RIGHTS, EQUALITY March 12, :30 am – 12:00 pm Church Center of the UN – Boss Room NYC Distinguished Speakers: Ms. Shawl Shamin - International Muslim Women's Union - Kashmir Women's Forum, Director Ms. Zamaruda Habib - Persecuted Kashmir Women's Rights Activist - Statement Dr. Lakshmi Puri – UN Women Deputy Executive Director – Invited Ms. Meera Khanna – Trustee Guild for Service & Trustee Women’s Welfare Trust-Jammu & Kashmir, Writer, Activist Ms. Shagufta Ashraf – Lecturer Kashmir University - Statement Ms. Sadia Mir – Kashmir Research & Heritage, WUNRN Dr. Krishna Ahooja Patel - Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF) & Founder of WILPF India Ms. Lois A. Herman - Women's UN Report Network, WUNRN Coordinator - Power Point on Women's Challenges for Rights in India Moderator – Dr. Mohini Giri – Guild for Service, Chairperson - Former Chairperson India National Commission for Women – War Widows Expert Panel Organizers: International Muslim Women’s Union – WUNRN, Women’s UN Report Network – Guild of Service of India

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® KASHMIR – DEPRAVITY AGAINST WOMEN & GIRLS PROTRACTED CONFLICT – IMPUNITY - TORTURE Source-Asian Human Rights Commission

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® KASHMIR - INDIA POLICE ARREST KASHMIR WOMEN'S MOVEMENT LEADER AT PEACEFUL PROTEST FOR MISSING PERSONS, & FOR CONTINUED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY POLICE Ms. Zamarud Habib – Kashmir Women’s Leader was arrested when she was leading a peaceful protest in Srinagar to highlight the search for the many missing in the protracted Kashmir conflict, and to denounce human rights violations being committed by Indian troops and police in occupied Kashmir.

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® KASHMIR CONFLICT - WOMEN SUFFER A SURGE IN GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE A billboard in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir promotes gender equality and protests violence against women. Credit: Athar Parvaiz/IPS

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® KASHMIR - WOMEN & CHILDREN CIVILIANS ON THE FRONTLINES OF PROTRACTED CONFLICT Kashmir villagers flee on a tractor from areas allegedly shelled by Pakistan, in village 65 kilometers from Jammu.

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® KASHMIR - WOMEN ORDERED TO COVER FACES & NOT USE MOBILE PHONES, OR RISK ACID ATTACKS Photo: AP/Dar Yasin

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® KASHMIR HOSPITALS STRUGGLE IN FLOODING, MASSIVE HUMANITARIAN NEEDS – WOMEN & CHILDREN Srinigar, Kashmir - When the floodwaters of the Jhelum River rushed over the gates of the G. B. Pant Hospital, the top pediatric hospital in Kashmir the lights were the first to go. Half an hour later, the generators on the ground floor were drowned in water. Minutes after that, the oxygen tank that supplied air to the ventilators for newborns shut down. Six infants died within 24 hours. A girl in her damaged home in Srinagar. Floods left hundreds dead in Pakistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir. Officials said conditions could lead to cholera and other diseases. Credit Farooq Khan/European Pressphoto

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - INFANT GIRL HUNGRY & MALNOURISHED India - A malnourished 3-month-old girl is fed at a rehabilitation center in Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh. Photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times According to the Save the Children's statistics, around 3.5 million children die in a year because of malnutrition. In India alone, one million children's lives could be saved every year if they were not malnourished.

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - CHILD MARRIAGE INDIA PROHIBITION OF CHILD MARRIAGE ACT 2006

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA'S MISSING GIRLS - FEMALE INFANTICIDE - SKEWED SEX RATIO A young girl looks on during a rally against female foeticide in New Delhi. Photograph: Gurinder Osan/AP

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - MATERNAL & INFANT MORTALITY CRISIS

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD BOOM - LEGAL CONCERNS Women like these at a clinic in Anand, India, can earn much more as surrogate mothers than at normal jobs. - NY Times - Stephanie Sinclair/VII Network

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® WIDOWS OF INDIA - POVERTY - DISCRIMINATION - SOCIAL EXCLUSION The Voiceless Millions of Widows of India

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® PHOTO OF INDIA GUILD OF SERVICE - WUNRN - UNIFEM CONFERENCE ON WIDOWS

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® KASHMIR WIDOWS at WUNRN-Guild of Service-UNIFEM Conference on Widows

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® Universal Periodic Review Second Cycle - India For first cycle reports of India, please see herehere Only contributions submitted in one of the United Nations official languages are admissible and posted on this webpage Date of consideration: Thursday 24 May 2012, 2:30 pm - 6:00 pm National report 1 : 1 AA | C | E | F | R | SCEFRS Annexes : 1, 2, 3123 Compilation of UN information 2 : 2 A | C | E | F | R | SACEFRS Summary of stakeholders' information 3 : 3 A | C | E | F | R | SACEFRS Corrigendum 1 : A | C | E | F | R | SACEFRS Questions submitted in advance : E Addendum 1 : E Outcome of the review: Report of the Working group : A | C | E | F | R | SACEFRS Addendum 1 : A | C | E | F | R | SACEFRS Decision on the outcome : A | C | E | F | R | SACEFRS INDIA UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW IN THIRD CYCLE UPR SCHEDULED FOR FEBRUARY 2017

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - GIRLS' SCHOOL IN DELHI SLUM Photo - Courtesy of FADA - Pedro Moreno

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA CHILD LABOUR - GIRL BRICK WORKER A 9-year-old girl in India toils under the hot sun, making bricks from morning to night, seven days a week.

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA MANUAL SCAVENGER DALIT WOMEN

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - CRITICAL HOMELESSNESS - WOMEN & CHILDREN Adnan Abidi / Reuters Homeless women inside a shelter managed by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in New Delhi, Dec. 28. An intense spell of cold weather has forced hundreds of homeless to seek refugee in the shelters.

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - WOMEN & CHILDREN VICTIMS OF TOXIC ENVIRONMENTS AS IN BHOPAL Fareeda Bi sitting with her two sons, Nawab, 8, in her lap, and Hassan, 12, in their home in the Arif Nagar slum near the factory. The boys have no muscle control and are barely able to stand. "There are more children like this in the neighborhood," she said, "who cannot walk, who cannot see."

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - PROSTITUTES OF BOMBAY Bombay - Falkland Road - Prostitution Cages at Night - By Mary Ellen Mark

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN 58th Session - July 2014 States examined, schedule and summary records Core document and State report Lists of issues and written replies Information provided to the Committee Delegation lists and statements Concluding Observations INDIA Combined fourth and fifth periodic reports CEDAW/C/IND/4-5 A C E F R SE CEDAW/C/IND/4-5/Corr.1 E CEDAW/C/IND/Q/4-5 A C E F R S CEDAW/C/IND/Q/4-5/Add.1 A C E F R S List Statement CEDAW/C/IND/CO/4-5 A C E F R S

WOMEN’S UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® BECAUSE I AM A GIRL, I MUST STUDY - POEM A father asks his daughter: Study? Why should you study? I have sons aplenty who can study Girl, why should you study? The daughter tells her father: Since you ask, here’s why I must study. Because I am a girl, I must study. Long denied this right, I must study For my dreams to take flight, I must study Knowledge brings new light, so I must study For the battles I must fight, I must study Because I am a girl, I must study. To avoid destitution, I must study To win independence, I must study To fight frustration, I must study To find inspiration, I must study Because I am a girl, I must study. To fight men’s violence, I must study To end my silence, I must study To challenge patriarchy I must study To demolish all hierarchy, I must study. Because I am a girl, I must study. To mould a faith I can trust, I must study To make laws that are just, I must study To sweep centuries of dust, I must study To challenge what I must, I must study Because I am a girl, I must study. To know right from wrong, I must study. To find a voice that is strong, I must study To write feminist songs I must study To make a world where girls belong, I must study. Because I am a girl, I must study. -- Kamla Bhasin