Half-widows: silent victims of the Kashmir conflict

Abstract

The long-standing conflict in Jammu and Kashmir has resulted in the enforced disappearance of thousands of married men, which has left their wives with a new fractured identity as a ‘half-widow’. Uncertain whether their husbands are dead or alive; their status is in limbo, leading to pervasive economic, social, legal and psychological problems. This article builds upon interviews with fourteen half-widows, aiming to gain an in-depth understanding of their lived experiences and the social trauma they face, including economic hardship, social stigmatisation and psychological trauma produced by their unresolved grief – which fluctuates between anguish over the possibility of death, and hope that their loved one will return.