Understanding Ageing Experiences of Kashmiri Elderly Widows through Intersectional Life-Course Perspective

Elderly women are at risk of poor health, social, and economic outcomes upon widowhood. Hence, widowhood remains a vulnerable risk factor to manage the already existing insecurities for elderly women. However, much of the confrontation posed in their later years of life, has its roots in the deprived years of early stages of life, that constrain them to distance themselves from the politico-socio-economic spheres, thereby affecting the conditions in which these elderly widows. Apart from this, elderly widowed women face social exclusion and discrimination, which may lead to abuse and mistreatment of these women. In a conflict region these elderly widowed women may get more exposed to violence, exploitation and traumas. Owing to the multiple challenges the elderly widowed women face, this category of women needs more attention and their conditions and narratives need to be put at the forefront. So, it is imperative to study and bring forth various issues, challenges and problems of elderly widowed residing in Kashmir. Thus this study will aim to ascertain the persistent challenges which elderly widowed women face Vis-a-Vis their social, cultural and personal contexts. The study's objectives are 1) To bring forth and examine the lived experiences of elderly widows residing in Muslim families of Kashmir and 2) To study and understand the impact of lifelong discrimination and deprivation on the present conditions of elderly widows. This study was guided by an intersectional life-course perspective by Ferrer et al. in their 2017 study. The findings are divided into the following themes 1) Intersectionality of Gender, Widowhood, and Ageing, 2) Life Course and Key Life Events, 3) Linked Lives and Intergenerational Relationships, 4) Agency, Resilience, and Resistance, 5) Memory, Identity, and Ageing 6) Impact of Conflict and Political Instability