For nearly four decades, Baba Wayil, a small Muslim village situated on the foothills of the snowclad Zabarwan Range in Indian-administered Kashmir, has cultivated fame for its blanket ban on dowries and lavish weddings.
An ensemble of young women is helping to revive Sufi music, a traditionally male bastion.
In Kashmir, a longstanding history of mistrust with the Indian central government stands in the way of more people getting vaccinated — including pregnant women, who are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.
The conflict-torn Himalayan valley has seen a surge in mental health cases since the abrogation of the autonomous status of the region, with women among the most distressed.
Women Under Siege speaks with Masrat Zahra, a Kashmiri photojournalist and recent awardee of IWMF's Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, over the phone about her terrorism charge and the work she sees for herself ahead.
Women Under Siege discussed the disproportionate impact of the occupation on women with Kashmir scholars Ather Zia, founder of Kashmir Lit and co-founder of the Critical Kashmir Studies Collective, and Nitasha Kaul, a poet, novelist, artist, and associate professor of politics and international relations at the University of Westminster.