Oceania

‘I am a Widow, Mother and Refugee:’ Narratives of Two Refugee Widows Resettled to Australia

Citation:

Lenette, Caroline. 2014. "‘I am a Widow, Mother and Refugee’: Narratives of Two Refugee Widows Resettled to Australia." Journal of Refugee Studies 27 (3): 403-21.

Author: Caroline Lenette

Abstract:

The sparse literature on contemporary narratives of widowhood among refugee women as a consequence of conflict situations indicates that this aspect of lived experience is relatively unexplored. While loss is integral to the refugee journey, there is a paucity of analysis of how the sudden loss of a spouse under such circumstances can compound resettlement anxieties, particularly when women raise children alone. By exploring meanings attached to widowhood using examples from the experiences of two younger refugee women resettled in Brisbane, Australia, this article demonstrates how they negotiated lives characterized by community ostracism and stigmatization attached to widowhood and lone parenting. The limited knowledge specifically on young or middle-aged widowhood, the compounded impact on lone parenting, and intra-group tensions among refugee women are highlighted. Such an oversight should be addressed to provide a full understanding of complex wellbeing experiences for refugee widows with children resettled in western nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Households, Livelihoods, Post-Conflict Regions: Oceania Countries: Australia

Year: 2014

Living with the Fence: Militarization and Military Spaces on Guahan/Guam

Citation:

Alexander, Ronni. 2016. “Living with the Fence: Militarization and Military Spaces on Guahan/Guam.” Gender, Place & Culture 23 (6): 869–82. doi:10.1080/0966369X.2015.1073697.

 

Author: Ronni Alexander

Abstract:

The landscape of Guahan/Guam, an organized unincorporated territory of the USA and the largest and southernmost island of the Mariana Islands archipelago, is visibly marked by chain link fences that enclose land taken for use by the US military. This US military presence on Guam is evidence of a long military colonial history that has stressed, particularly under US rule, the importance of the island's strategic location. The ‘fence,’ a frequently used but rarely defined expression, refers to a multiplicity of lines, most of which recreate a dichotomous view of military/local relations, and help to make invisible the complex web of identities that go through, over, and beyond its real and imagined spaces. Working from an understanding that theory must be grounded in experience, this article draws on interviews to explore the multiple meanings of the fence. It focuses on the ways the colonized, militarized, and gendered spaces of the fence promote US values, interests, and security concerns but also mark points of resistance to militarization and colonization. Exploring the ways colonization and militarization are played out on the bodies of those who live and work on the island, the article concludes that tearing down the ‘fence’ must include both demilitarization and decolonization, but in ways that transcend, rather than reproduce its present gendered and dichotomous spaces.

Keywords: Guam, Gender, militarization, colonization, Chamoru

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Gender, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization Regions: Oceania Countries: United States of America

Year: 2016

Are Women Peaceful? Reflections on the Role of Women in Peace-Building

Citation:

Charlesworth, Hilary. 2008. ‘Are Women Peaceful? Reflections on the Role of Women in Peace-Building’. Feminist Legal Studies 16 (3): 347–61.

Author: Hilary Charlesworth

Abstract:

This paper examines the way that women’s relationship to peace is constructed in international institutions and international law. It identifies a set of claims about women and peace that are typically made and considers these in light of women’s experience in the conflicts in Bougainville, East Timor and the Solomon Islands. 

 

Keywords: Bougainville, democracy, East Timor, international law, peace-building, post-conflict reconstruction, Solomon Islands, women

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Women, International Law, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Oceania Countries: Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste

Year: 2008

Price of Peace: Financing for Gender Equality in Post Conflict Reconstruction

Citation:

Budlender, Debbie. 2010. ‘Price of Peace: Financing for Gender Equality in Post Conflict Reconstruction’. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/womens-empowerment/price-of-peace-financing-for-gender-equality-in-post-conflict-reconstruction.html

Author: Debbie Budlender

Abstract:

Questions of the gender-responsiveness of post-conflict funding are important beyond the economic sphere. While budgets and financing are economic tools, the monies that they govern are used to finance activities that extend into all areas of govern- ment activity. In post-conflict situations, donor funds are used not only to rebuild the economy and to (re-)establish administrative systems and law and order, but also to fund social services such as education and health. Decisions as to which sectors will be funded and what will be funded within them are therefore of clear impor- tance in determining prospects for advancing gender equality in the recipient country. In an attempt to get more detailed information, the Gender Team of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) commissioned case studies in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Southern Sudan and Timor-Leste. The case studies examine whether and how resources were allocated and used in post-conflict reconstruction initiatives to promote gender equality and address women’s needs.The studies examined whether gender issues were addressed through separate projects or through addressing gender issues in mainstream projects and programmes.They also examined how funding of post-conflict reconstruction related to their own budgets with respect to gender equality and women’s empowerment. The research covered the full post-conflict reconstruction period, including early recovery and peace-building assistance as well as later assistance as the recipient countries attempted to move towards a more ‘normal’ situation. The precise time period varied from one case study to the next and these are detailed in each individual case study. Movement towards the normal situation is reflected by a shift in instruments used, with countries over time increasingly being assisted through standard instruments and processes used in non-conflict countries. For future and current interventions, this synthesis report draws on the lessons that intervening actors as well as actors in the beneficiary countries can learn from these four case studies. 

 

Keywords: United Nations Development Programme, gender equality, gender and finance, post-conflict

Topics: Development, Economies, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gender Budgeting, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Oceania Countries: Kosovo, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Timor-Leste

Year: 2010

Integrating Gender in Post-Conflict Security Sector Reform

Citation:

Bastick, Megan. 2008. ‘Integrating Gender in Post-Conflict Security Sector Reform’. In SIPRI Yearbook. DCAF. https://www.sipri.org/yearbook/2008/04.

Author: Megan Bastick

Abstract:

The importance of security sector reform (SSR) has increasingly been empha- sized in international engagement with post-conflict countries. In February 2007 the United Nations Security Council stressed that ‘reforming the security sector in post-conflict environments is critical to the consolidation of peace and stability, promoting poverty reduction, rule of law and good governance, extending legitimate state authority, and preventing countries from relapsing into conflict’. National governments also identify SSR as a key tool in con- solidating their authority and healing divisions of the past. This chapter explores the case and methods for addressing gender issues in post-conflict SSR processes, drawing upon experiences in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Liberia, Peru, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste, and potential models from Serbia and South Africa. Section II further defines the concepts of SSR and gender, as well as their relationship to each other. The rationale for and experiences of gender mainstreaming in SSR and promoting the full and equal participation of men and women in SSR processes are discussed in section III, with practical examples from post-conflict settings. Section IV focuses on promoting women’s participation in post-conflict security services. Section V examines some challenges for key post-conflict SSR and SSR- related activities, including gender dimensions in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processes, transitional justice and justice reform. Section VI summarizes the case for integrating gender into future SSR program- ming and policymaking and outlines the key opportunities and challenges. 

 

Keywords: Gender, security sector reform, post-conflict, gender mainstreaming

Annotation:

Security sector reform (SSR) is essential to post-conflict peacebuilding in order to prevent the reoccurrence of conflict, to enhance public security, and to create the conditions for reconstruction and development. The importance of women’s participation and gender equality in peacebuilding and security is recognized by many governments and United Nations and donor agencies. However, efforts to promote these goals are often planned and implemented independently of each other, with the result that SSR fails to include women and to address the security needs of the entire population—including women, girls and boys.

Post-conflict SSR processes have used various approaches to address gender issues.

  • In Afghanistan, Kosovo and Liberia SSR measures to recruit and
    retain women, and to make security institutions more responsive to
    gender issues presented challenges but also yielded positive results.
  • In Peru, Sierra Leone and Timor- Leste truth and reconciliation commissions included mechanisms to address the experiences and justice needs of women.
  • Rwandan women parliamentarians made distinctive contributions to SSR by uniting across party and ethnic lines to address issues of women’s security.
  • In Liberia and Sierra Leone disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes contributed to developing operational procedures to ensure that women and girls are not excluded, and that the needs of men and boys are also addressed.
  • In Liberia and South Africa women’s civil society organizations were important partners in linking SSR with local security and justice concerns.

Gender mainstreaming—assessing the impact of SSR policies andactivities on women, men, boys and girls at every stage of the process—is a key strategy. It must be accompanied by steps to ensure that both men and women participate and are represented in SSRprocesses.

Participation of women in post-conflict security services is crucial to creating structures that are representative, trusted and legitimate,and are able to meet the security needs of both men and women.

‘Transitional justice’ and justice reform processes have madeadvances in responding to gender issues. Ad hoc criminal tribunals have prioritized prosecution of sexual violence.

Successful integration of gender in SSR shares the broader challenges of SSR. External actors can encourage and support, but initiatives must be led by local stakeholders. SSR has much to gain byintegrating gender.

 

Megan Bastick (Australia/United Kingdom) is Deputy Head of the Special Programmes Division at the 

Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).

Topics: Gender, Gender Mainstreaming, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, Americas, South America, Asia, South Asia, Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Oceania Countries: Afghanistan, Kosovo, Liberia, Peru, Rwanda, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Timor-Leste

Year: 2008

From Obama to Abbott

Citation:

Johnson, Carol. 2013. “From Obama to Abbott.” Australian Feminist Studies 28 (75): 14-29. 

Author: Carol Johnson

Abstract:

This article analyses how politicians' use of emotion is gendered. Key Australian, US and UK politicians studied include Obama, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Cameron, Rudd, Abbott and Gillard. Emotions analysed range from fear to compassion. A particular focus is placed on issues of masculinity; however, the implications for constructions of both femininity and masculinity will be considered, including arguments that female politicians face particular problems in utilising emotion, for example, in projecting an image of being both tough and compassionate. It will be argued that it is not just that politicians' use of emotion intersects with issues of gender but that particular gendered identities are a key vehicle via which emotion is deployed. Consequently, the analysis contributes new insights to both the literature on the politics of emotion and the literature on masculinity and gender. 

Topics: Gender, Women, Men, Masculinity/ies, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Governance, Political Participation Regions: Americas, North America, Oceania Countries: Australia, United States of America

Year: 2013

Models for Masculinity in Colonial and Postcolonial Papua New Guinea

Citation:

Fife, Wayne. 1995. “Models for Masculinity in Colonial and Postcolonial Papua New Guinea.” The Contemporary Pacific 7 (2): 277-302. 

Author: Wayne Fife

Abstract:

This paper discusses the kinds of models that became available in the colonial context for indigenous men to be men in what eventually became the country of Papua New Guinea. One of the legacies of colonialism and the missionization of masculinity is the development of a new hierarchy of masculine values. These newer norms are in marked contrast to older forms of male effectiveness, and they have helped to define social distinctions within contemporary Papua New Guinea. At the same time, the reality of human behavior spills over the confines of both older and newer cultural norms, and the results can be confusing for individual males. However, individual confusion does not affect the overall saliency of these historically engendered forms of masculinity, nor the importance they may have for the justification of emerging social and economic inequalities within the country.

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Men, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Patriarchy, Indigenous Regions: Oceania Countries: Papua New Guinea

Year: 1995

'Cowboy' Policing versus 'the Softer Stuff;' Masculinities and Policekeeping

Citation:

Bevan, Marianne and Megan H. MacKenzie. 2012. "'Cowboy' Policing versus 'the Softer Stuff;' Masculinities and Policekeeping." International Feminist Journal of Politics 14 (4): 508-528.

Authors: Marianne Bevan, Megan H. MacKenzie

Abstract:

This article examines masculinities in relation to the New Zealand police force Community Policing Pilot Program in Timor-Leste (East Timor). We find that despite calls for less militarized, more community-centered approaches to security sector reform, various forms of militarized masculinities persisted within the culture of the New Zealand Police during its international mission. In doing so, we not only complicate singular representations of militarized masculinity, but also challenge accounts that see masculinity as a monolithic negative, violent construct that is engaged with in only problematic ways.

Topics: Gender, Men, Masculinity/ies, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Security Sector Reform, Violence Regions: Oceania Countries: New Zealand, Timor-Leste

Year: 2012

O papel das mulheres no desenvolvimento rural: uma leitura para Timor-Leste

Citation:

Narciso, Vanda and Pedro Damião de Sousa Henriques. 2008. "O papel das mulheres no desenvolvimento rural: uma leitura para Timor-Leste." CEFAGE-UE Working Paper, Universidade de Évora, Évora.

Authors: Vanda Narciso, Pedro Damião de Sousa Henriques

Abstract:

PORTUGUESE ABSTRACT:

O caminho percorrido para que as questões do género e do desenvolvimento e em especial a sua interligação sejam assuntos importantes e alvo de atenção tanto académica como política, foi longo. Várias áreas do conhecimento, como a sociologia, a antropologia e a economia, contribuem para a construção do conhecimento neste domínio, a par de outras mais recentes como os estudos feministas e os estudos pós-coloniais. Como resultado, as teorias e os conceitos sobre a relação das mulheres com o desenvolvimento e os efeitos deste sobre as mulheres têm sido vários. O objectivo deste trabalho foi em primeiro lugar pôr em relevo o papel que as mulheres desempenham no desenvolvimento rural, identificando as suas funções, as principais abordagens utilizadas e a sua situação perante o enquadramento jurídico internacional. Em segundo lugar fazemos uma aplicação à situação das mulheres em Timor-Leste, abarcando os aspectos sociais, nomeadamente os papéis de género, da família, e o acesso aos recursos naturais, com saliência para a terra. Faz-se igualmente uma leitura da situação das mulheres perante o direito positivo e o sistema costumeiro. A análise recorreu essencialmente a informação documental e a observações feitas no local em 2000 e 2003. Os contributos que as mulheres de Timor-Leste poderão dar ao desenvolvimento do seu país
está bastante condicionado pelas desigualdades de género presentes no direito consuetudinário, no qual destacamos o desigual acesso aos recursos naturais, com relevo para a terra. A HRBA parece ser a abordagem que melhor se adapta a uma integração plena das mulheres no processo de desenvolvimento, ao defender a igualdade e a não discriminação das mulheres em qualquer circunstância, e ao apelar à formação e ao empoderamento das mulheres para o exercício dos seus direitos.
 
ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
It has been a long way, until both gender and development were recognized as important issues in academic and political arena. Several fields of science, such as sociology, anthropology, and economy contributed to the knowledge in this area, in addition to recent developments in feminist and pos-colonial studies. As a result, there are different gender approaches to development. The first objective of this paper is to stress the role of women in rural development, identifying their roles, the main gender approaches to development and women status under international law framework. The second aim is to analyze the position of women in East Timor with respect to social aspects, namely the gender roles, the family, access to natural resources and women status under the legal system and the traditional law. This analysis used documental sources of information and observations made in East Timor in 2000 and 2003. The contribution of East Timorese women to the development is heavy constrained by the gender inequality present in traditional/customary law, in which unequal access to natural resources, in special land access, is relevant. The HRBA seems to be the best approach to a full integration of women in the development process, once it vindicates the right to equality and non discrimination and advocates training and empowerment as means to make women exercise their rights.

 

Keywords: gênero, direitos à terra, desenvolvimento rural, Timor-Leste, Gender, land rights, rural development, East Timor

Topics: Civil Society, Development, Gender, Women, Men, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Hierarchies, Gender Equality/Inequality, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Oceania Countries: Timor-Leste

Year: 2008

Gender Mainstreaming: A Five‐Country Examination

Citation:

Hankivsky, Olena. 2013. “Gender Mainstreaming: A Five‐Country Examination.” Politics & Policy 41 (5): 629-55.

 

Author: Olena Hankivsky

Abstract:

Although gender mainstreaming (GM) has been the international norm for working toward gender equality in policies and practices since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995, its impact has been uneven. The lack of substantive results has led to debate surrounding GM’s capacity for engendering meaningful policy change. This article synthesizes the input of key GM stakeholders (within government, academia, and nongovernmental organizations) across Canada, Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine. It discusses national approaches to mainstreaming gender, identifies key factors inhibiting and/or promoting GM, and proposes how current strategies can be modified, strengthened and/or replaced by alternative approaches. Central to the analysis is the question as to whether GM in current or expanded versions has the potential to addresses the wide variety of diversities among nation state populations.

Keywords: gender equality, women and politics, gender mainstreaming, national approaches, diversity, comparative policy, Canada, Australia, intersectionality

Topics: Gender, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality Regions: Americas, North America, Europe, Eastern Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe, Oceania Countries: Australia, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Year: 2013

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