Srinagar, Aug. 6 -- A phone call interrupted my work last week. A colleague said a young girl wanted a lawyer because she had reached the point where a courtroom felt safer than the place where she grew up.

That request exposed a truth Kashmir spends enormous energy hiding.

Some of the gravest threats facing young women come from the people entrusted with their care, while relatives, neighbours and friends witness the damage and look the other way.

She described years of beatings, humiliation and neglect. Medical treatment remained beyond reach because nobody considered her suffering worthy of attention.

She finally spoke after questioning her father's late-night calls to another woman.

Instead of confronting the father, the family t...