1. Women, Conflict and
Human Rights Violations:
Experiences from
Northeast India
Elizabeth Devi Kh
Prateeti Barman
2. • Millions of women throughout the world live in abject
deprivation of their basic human rights for no other
reason than that they are women.
• Lack of education, access to health care, housing
and sanitation, equal wage and opportunity to work
some of the basic rights of every individual and
women are deprived of it.
• In fact the discriminatory attitude towards woman
starts from the womb itself where she gets killed
being a ‘Female’.
3. Definition of Human Rights
• Human Rights are the fundamental natural rights
which are the most precious possession of
mankind and a world without them will have to
face a perpetual risk of moral depredation.
• Broadly Human Rights can fall into i) Civil and
Political rights ii) Economic, Social and Cultural
rights
• These natural rights can not be taken away by
any legislative measure anywhere.
4. Forms of Human Rights Violations
against women
• Domestic Violence
• Female Genital Mutilation
• Son Preference
• Dowry related Violence and Early
Marriage
5. Human Rights Violations in the
Community
• Rape
• Prostitution and Trafficking
• Violence against women migrant workers
• Pornography
6. Human Rights Violations
perpetrated by the State
• Custodial violence against women
• Violence against women in situations of
armed conflict
7. Women in Conflict situations and
Human Rights
• Conflicts of value and interest are inherent in all forms of
society. In northeast context conflict has got forms as
separatist movements, clashes between different ethnic
groups, demands by fundamentalist groups etc.
• The United Nations (UN) Dept. for Disarmament Affairs
records over 150 armed conflicts in developing countries
since 1945.
• Former Secretary-General Boutros Ghali said that more
women today were suffering from the effects of war &
conflict than ever before.
• Available data suggests that women constitute a major
portion of the reported 85 per cent civilian victims of
present day conflicts.
8. • During conflict situation the gender roles
changes but not the gender relation.
• Women are pushed to a situation to fend for
their family during conflict situation but at same
time abide by the gender relation to maintain the
equilibrium.
• Conflicts have also led women to refugee camps
(where basic facilities are missing), prostitution,
loss of lives of their dear ones and livelihoods.
9. • In fact, rape is used as a weapon of war, a strategy to
subjugate and terrify communities.
• In conflict situation often women have been the targets
of violence by both state and non state actors in different
forms ranging from sexual, mental or physical abuse to
killings, detention or arrest without cause.
• The non state actors use threats, intimidation and some
times killings for not complying with its dictates to control
and use the services of women.
11. Assam:
• A) June 10, 1998, fifteen (15)
year old Roshmi Bora from
Pachali (Rai Dingia village,
Nagaon district, was abducted
from her house, by a group of
unknown men.
12. • B) In February 2000, eleven (11) year old Rupa Nath, of
Gogamukh Sonapur Gaon in Dehemaji district employed as
domestic help in the house of Rudra Gogoi of Dhapalial gaon in
Lakhimpur district was accused of stealing gold ornaments. She
and her sister Oirabati Nath were taken to Ghilamara police
station for interrogation. There they were severely beaten and
manhandled. Again, Rupa was handed over to Rudra Gogoi’s
elder brother who beat her ‘to get her to confess’. Unable to
extract a ‘confession’ by the police and Rudra Gogoi’s family,
Rupa and her sister were taken to Gogamukh police station for
the second time where they were repeatedly raped. In the
incident Rupa lost consciousness and was left to die near a
culvert while her sister was dropped off near her house.
13. • C) Women victims of Bodo and Adivasi conflict surviving
in various Adivasi camps in Bodo Land Territorial
Autonomous District Council (BTAD) are still living there
for last 12 years (since 1996) where there is no
sanitation, proper dwelling, health care and education for
the children.
109 girls lured from the relief camps of Srirampur
gate under Kokrajar District of BTAD, for domestic work
in many parts of the country and outside of the country
such as Bhutan and Nepal .
16. Manipur:
• A) On April 5, 1998, a 27 year old
pregnant woman, wife of N.Basanta,
chowkidar at the Kheirenphabi
Government Junior School was raped by
an army jawan, barely three or four hours
after the then Defence Minister George
Fernandez left Imphal, promising to check
the army’s excesses in the region.
17. • B) on October 10, 1992- the maternal grandparents
organized a blessing ceremony for two year-old
Tingneng, D/O Doukhosei. While the family members
and friends were returning from the ceremony late in the
afternoon, they were attacked by an ethnic militant
group. The men were killed. The baby was tied to a tree
and the breast of the mother was cut and fed to the child.
The women were gang-raped and killed. The attackers
left after inserting long sticks into the vaginas of the
victims.
18. Mizoram:
• A) In between 1967-72 K Lalthakimi, a fifty-
seven year-old nurse was arrested five
times on the suspicion that she is a
Chinese spy. She was threatened at gun-
point, and forced to render medical
services to the army because of her
nursing background. She was not given
any access to justice even though she tried
to appeal to the authorities.
19. Nagaland:
• A) On December 27, 1994 following an exchange of fire between
some militants and a section of the army, a major of the army was
killed in Mokokchung town. The members of the Task Force of the
16 Maratha Light Infantry went totally berserk after this incident,
venting their wrath on the innocent civilian population of the town.
Many women were raped, sexually assaulted, stripped naked and
their clothes dipped into petrol to burn their homes.
• Dr. Yangerla Ao, a doctor and president of the United
Women’s Forum, examined and treated at least fifteen or sixteen
cases of rape and molestation. However, in this incident, only four
women were willing to come forward. Others did not want to testify,
partly due to fear of reprisal by the army and partly due to the
stigma attached to rape
20. Tripura:
• On July 28, 2007 Pardarung Reang ( 11 and ½
year old) d/o Gopal Chetri, a daily labourer of
Upper Dasda under Kanchanpur p/s of North
Tripura district while returning home from Dasda
Bazaar along with an 8 year old relative after
dropping pineapples to her mother was attacked
by a youth named C.Sukesh Das (20) while they
were crossing over an isolated area. He was
carrying a knife along with him. He caught hold
of Pardarung Reang and rape her.
