Articles about Conflict

Manipur: Ethnic Conflict Marked by Targeted Sexual Violence In July 2023 harrowing footage emerged from the northeast Indian state of Manipur: two Kuki women paraded naked through the streets before being raped by members of the majority Meitei community. The incident, which took place in May 2023, captured the brutal truth about sexual violence in conflict – how women's bodies become battlegrounds and are punished to impose silence and exact “revenge” on entire communities. The violence that erupted in Manipur in May 2023 stems from deep-rooted tensions over ethnic identity and land rights between the majority ethnic Meitei community and the minority hill-dwelling Kuki-Zo tribal groups. Following a Manipur High Court order directing the state government to consider extending the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meiteis, an affirmative action that would increase the community’s constitutional protections, violence broke out between the two groups over concerns about Kuki-Zo groups losing their land rights. As per reports, more than 250 people have been killed, and over 60,000 people displaced since the civil war erupted in May 2023. There have been reports of multiple incidents of armed Meitei mobs specifically targeting Kuki women during the escalating conflict, with disturbing accounts of sexual violence, including rape and murder. Sexual and Gendered Violence in Conflict: From Manipur to Afghanistan to Gaza What is happening in Manipur mirrors broader regional patterns across South Asia—from increased sexual and gender-based violence in Afghanistan, to sexual violence against Tamil women by security forces. Across the globe, presently in Gaza and Sudan, systematic sexual violence is being used as a weapon for ethnic cleansing and military occupation. The 2007 “Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Conflict Situations” Issue by the Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW) notes that gendered violence that surges during conflict often reinforces patriarchal ideologies, reasserting control over women’s mobility, sexuality and fertility. The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) recognises that the survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) also face stigma, exclusion, and lack of access to emergency sexual and reproductive health services even after the immediate conflict has ended. During conflict, health systems collapse and women and girls’ access to contraception; safe abortion services and other sexual and reproductive health services, such as HIV and STI testing and prevention, is not prioritised. For vulnerable communities, especially the LGBTI+ community, who can’t access inclusive and stigma-free services even in peace, conflict increases the propensity of sexual and gendered violence that they face. They may also face rejection from within their community and excluded from camps. We believe all survivors of sexual and gendered violence in conflict deserve services that are timely, stigma-free and inclusive based on their needs.