Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Sexual violence highest in Kashmir amongst conflict ridden regions
By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has in a recently published report found that the incidence of sexual violence in Jammu and Kashmir is highest amongst the conflict ridden regions in the world.
The Dutch Nobel Prize winning global network also says problems like mental health and psychological morbidity have increased during the past six years in Jammu and Kashmir. Its report says that a large section of population in the state feels insecure and almost 44 percent have reported mistreatment.
The organisation carried out a survey last year in Budgam and Kupwara districts. An alarming 11.6 percent of respondents said ââ¬Åthey had experienced violation of their modestyââ¬Â ââ¬â which is far higher than in other conflict areas such as Sierra Leone (2%), Sri Lanka (2%), Chechnya (0%) and Ingushetia (0.1%). More than one in 10 respondents in Kashmir said they had experienced sexual violence during the last three months. As many as 68 respondents (13.3%) had actually witnessed a rape since 1989 and 26 respondents (5.1%) had witnessed rape more than five times.
Almost one-third of respondents said they were so unhappy they were thinking of committing suicide. ââ¬ÅSuch a high percentage of suicidal tendencies within a population holding strong religious beliefs that condemn the act of suicide is a worrying indicator of the level of despair and hopelessness,ââ¬Â says the report.
The 30-page report says that almost 99.2 percent of people reported having confronted crackdowns and search operations between 1989 and 2005. Some 85.7 percent reported being frisked by security forces.
Almost 39 percent reported damage to their property.
In addition, 33.7 percent said they were forced to work for security forces, while 18.7 percent said they were forced to give shelter to combatants. In the same period, one in six respondents said they had been legally or illegally detained.
The MSF survey reported that almost everyone detained, whether legally or illegally, had been subjected to torture. Three-fourth of respondents were witness to arrests and half of them witnessed mistreatment. Amongst them, 9 percent reported mental problem, while 62 percent suffered from high levels of anxiety.
The survey also found a high incidence of physical complaints including headaches (23.5%), body pains such as joint and back complaints (20.5%), and abdominal complaints (16.9%).
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\12\27\story_27-12-2006_pg1_8
Sexual violence highest in Kashmir amongst conflict ridden regions
By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has in a recently published report found that the incidence of sexual violence in Jammu and Kashmir is highest amongst the conflict ridden regions in the world.
The Dutch Nobel Prize winning global network also says problems like mental health and psychological morbidity have increased during the past six years in Jammu and Kashmir. Its report says that a large section of population in the state feels insecure and almost 44 percent have reported mistreatment.
The organisation carried out a survey last year in Budgam and Kupwara districts. An alarming 11.6 percent of respondents said ââ¬Åthey had experienced violation of their modestyââ¬Â ââ¬â which is far higher than in other conflict areas such as Sierra Leone (2%), Sri Lanka (2%), Chechnya (0%) and Ingushetia (0.1%). More than one in 10 respondents in Kashmir said they had experienced sexual violence during the last three months. As many as 68 respondents (13.3%) had actually witnessed a rape since 1989 and 26 respondents (5.1%) had witnessed rape more than five times.
Almost one-third of respondents said they were so unhappy they were thinking of committing suicide. ââ¬ÅSuch a high percentage of suicidal tendencies within a population holding strong religious beliefs that condemn the act of suicide is a worrying indicator of the level of despair and hopelessness,ââ¬Â says the report.
The 30-page report says that almost 99.2 percent of people reported having confronted crackdowns and search operations between 1989 and 2005. Some 85.7 percent reported being frisked by security forces.
Almost 39 percent reported damage to their property.
In addition, 33.7 percent said they were forced to work for security forces, while 18.7 percent said they were forced to give shelter to combatants. In the same period, one in six respondents said they had been legally or illegally detained.
The MSF survey reported that almost everyone detained, whether legally or illegally, had been subjected to torture. Three-fourth of respondents were witness to arrests and half of them witnessed mistreatment. Amongst them, 9 percent reported mental problem, while 62 percent suffered from high levels of anxiety.
The survey also found a high incidence of physical complaints including headaches (23.5%), body pains such as joint and back complaints (20.5%), and abdominal complaints (16.9%).
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\12\27\story_27-12-2006_pg1_8
