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Fomuso Kazua (name changed) was just a few days shy of turning 12 when she attained puberty. That was also when she started showing signs of developing breasts. One day, out of the blue, her mother told her that she would have to do something that would seem unpleasant to Fomuso, but she had no choice because all girls had to go through it.

The all-girl football team

They started off as a secret sports club. What brought them together was their shared love for football, a game they couldn’t dream of playing because of their conservative family backgrounds.  After all, how could young girls, who weren’t even allowed to step out of their homes without the hijab (veil), run around kicking ball in an open field?

Since the December 16 gang rape incident in Delhi, the attention that sexual violence has received from the Indian public and authorities has been a welcome change. However, such recognition should not come at the cost of ignoring other forms of violence that may seem to be less scandalous and, in fact, “normal.” The recent UNICEF report on violence against children does precisely this. It blows the lid off a camouflaged and under-discussed aspect of the issue: “hidden” violence.

Since 1997 Nighat Shafi pandit and her group of activists have been undertaking different kinds of projects for children and destitute women in India-administered Kashmir. On the Friday I got in touch with her, Pandit was really tense as she spoke on phone for a couple minutes: “I am very upset and startled by the floods in Kashmir.