CC_India

tapestry of local ‘grassroots’ women and national women’s
networks playing significant roles in movements
of political resistance and in peace building. In many
of these struggles women have been at the forefront —
defending the rights of communities to land and livelihood,
mediating between warring factions, protecting
their communities from reprisal attacks and fearlessly
outfacing the security forces to protect their land and
way of life. The women have led the struggle against
human rights violations, building community wide
support for peace and reconciliation, campaigning for
justice and rebuilding broken societies. However, their
contributions have been largely undervalued, their suffering
and agency, invisiblised. The trail blazing UNSCR
1325 that acknowledges the link between women, peace
and security, has had little impact in providing protection
or promoting women’s participation in the region.
It is to recover the gendered social narrative of ‘conflict’
affected societies that WRN undertook through the
Community Conversations (CCs) project to document
women’s voices. What are women’s experiences, fears
and insecurities? What is their understanding of the
impact of militarisation, extremism and corruption on
their ability to access rights and justice? Driven away
from their homes and land, deprived of their loved ones,
and forced into poverty, how have women coped with
issues of survival, housing, livelihood, physical, emotional,
sexual and financial insecurity? What is their
experience with struggles for peace, justice and rights?
What is the space for reworking unequal gender relations
in the politics of resistance? Going beyond positioning
women as ‘victims’, the CCs document women
as ‘survivors’ and make visible the quiet agency of
women. From a women’s rights perspective the CCs critically
interrogate the ‘instrumentalisation’ of women
in political resistance movements. Through listening to
individual and group narratives, the CC seek to make a
social impact assessment that allows for a meaningful,
gendered intervention in conflict affected areas.
WHY A REGIONAL WOMEN’S NETWORK?
In the sub-region of Afghanistan, India and Pakistan,
the women share a struggle with inter and intra state
conflicts, the roots and consequences of which increasingly
connect the politics of the three countries and
impacts on the sub-region’s security and peace — as a
space for enjoyment of equal rights by women and men.
These states have become ‘national security states’
characterised by a clutch of anti democratic ‘security’
laws, and their security agenda has undermined the
rule of law and accountability. Factors such as escalating
defence expenditures and declining social funding,
predatory exploitation of natural resources and development
models that marginalise and displace — are
deepening structural inequalities. The widening of the
democracy deficit and rampant corruption is hollowing
out people’s stake in the system and is drawing many to
extremist, militant and fundamentalist ideologies. Geostrategic
global interests are exacerbating tensions and
producing conditions whereby the interests of the people
of the region have become subservient to external
interests and forces. This has provided space to extremists
to misuse ethnic, religious and linguistic differences
to create divisions and conflict.
Geographically and historically Afghanistan, India and
Pakistan have been closely interlinked and there are
reinforcing layers of political, economic and socio-cultural
ties. The future stability and peace of the sub-region
hinges upon their cooperation. More likely though,
competition and confrontation will increase as the
international forces withdraw. The Afghanistan transition
post 2014 will directly affect stability, ‘peace’ and
democratic rights in all of these neighbouring countries.
Conditions are already deteriorating and tension
and extremist violence is on the rise. In particular in
the name of stability and security the enforceability
of women’s rights has taken on a transactional form.
Women’s rights are being traded as a commodity for
‘peace’ — the deal breaker in the peace talks with the
‘moderate’ Taliban! This significant setback to women’s
rights and the triumph of fundamental and extremist
forces will affect all in the region. For WRN, it poses an
immediate challenge and confronts us with a responsibility
to be pro-active.
Women’s Regional Network is animated by the vision
of women working within and across borders to ensure
human rights, equitable development and the full participation
of women in building a just peace. It connects
communities of women within and across borders and
is aimed at constructing common agendas across borders
that reflect the concerns of women, especially
from ‘conflict’ affected areas. It seeks to facilitate
learning from each other’s situations, strategies, successes
and constraints to pursue ways of collaborating
together to realising a peace with rights and justice in
our region. WRN is committed to women participating
fully in shaping an agenda that will so directly affect
their life chances.
UNEQUAL CITIZENS: Women’s Narratives of Resistance, Militarisation, Corruption and Security
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