Generally, women's experiences of armed conflict are multiple and may be classified as vulnerable victims, survivors, peace builders and perpetrators of conflict. In all these roles the effect is both negative as well as positive. Conflict may have grave implications for women while at the same time it may create new opportunities for them. The paper aims at exploring various experiences of women in Kashmir conflict. Women in Kashmir have been continuously the victims of physical/psychological, cultural as well as economic violence. Yet, they have also resisted, for instance, by refusing to veil. In another role, the women in Kashmir have been at the forefront of militancy during the initial period when there was a mass uprising against the Indian State. Since then women have also been active in supporting the militant movement. The setting up of the Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in 1994 is an important initiative on the part of women towards bringing peace in Kashmir. However, in the peace processes initiated from time to time, the gender dimension is often ignored and remains invisible.

The post-Second World War era is marked by violent conflicts. The failure of parties in armed conflict to comply with the law on the one hand, and the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms on the other, have led to a situation in which civilians continue to suffer grievously and disproportionately. The parties in the conflict are obligated to respect the principles of humanitarian law found in Article 3, common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, which is applicable to internal armed conflicts. Yet, the same is not adhered to most of the times, thereby bringing tremendous sufferings to the common people caught in the conflict adversely affecting all aspects of their lives.

When armed conflict occurs in any country, the civilian population as a whole bears the brunt. But, there is a context of specificity regarding the experiences of different categories of people caught in the conflicts. This is especially the case of those who even otherwise are most vulnerable within the larger group—children, elderly, women, etc. Like any other category of the powerless, women also suffer the conflict doubly. On the one hand, they share common experiences with the group as a major constituent of the civilian population. Due to culturally and ideologically ascribed male and female gender roles, there is also gender specificity to their experience on the other. The gender-specific experience for most of the women may also be the result of patriarchal control, lack of exposure and mobility, lack of decision-making power, etc. They may also be rooted in the global culture of discrimination that denies women equal status with men.