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.
when
country
India
region
South Asia
Subject
Conflict
Related Member Association
Family Planning Association of India
Sexual and gender-based violence doesn’t end with the immediate conflict nor does it remain confined to public spaces. Displacement, fear of violence, and psychological trauma caused by the conflict often leads to an increase in intimate partner violence.
Providing Overlooked Yet Essential Services: FPAI’s Response in Manipur
Our Member Association in India, the Family Association of India (FPAI) responded to the humanitarian crisis in Manipur with an emergency response, including providing comprehensive gender-based violence support services focused on restoring the dignity of Manipuri women and gender-diverse populations targeted by sexual violence. The FPAI Nagaland branch, in partnership with the People Resource Development Association (PRDA), recognising the stigma faced by survivors of sexual violence, trained counsellors and nurses to offer trauma-informed and culturally sensitive emergency sexual and reproductive health services. Since the conflict escalated in 2023, FPAI has provided counselling for 1,290 cases of psychological and emotional abuse and delivered psychosocial counselling to 3,790 additional clients. To ensure access to comprehensive and specialised clinical services, FPAI also created an informal referral system, connecting clients to government district hospitals and Community Health Centres (CHCs). Reaching 5,517 clients with psychosocial support for survivors of sexual and gendered violence, HIV and STI prevention and treatment services, and access to emergency family planning and reproductive healthcare services, FPAI has provided integrated and life-saving sexual and reproductive healthcare to underserved Manipuri women and girls, and gender-diverse populations.
Prioritising Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare in Crises, Strengthening Systems
At the IPPF, we acknowledge that in protracted conflict settings like Manipur, sexual and gender-based violence doesn’t end with the immediate conflict nor does it remain confined to public spaces. Displacement, fear of violence, and psychological trauma caused by the conflict between two communities extends to the domestic sphere. There is a marked increased in intimate partner violence, and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence often also face rejection from their own families and community, who view them as "damaged" or "impure" due to the violence they endured, which excludes them further.
Yet in conflict settings, we have repeatedly seen that sexual and reproductive health services are the first to be defunded, deprioritised, or politically restricted. We must uphold reproductive rights of all people: not just during conflict, but during peacetime as well. We need preparedness, including trained, trauma-informed providers, strong referral networks and comprehensive SRH services that center the needs, rights and dignity of survivors.
