Queering Women, Peace and Security

Citation:

Hagen, Jamie J. 2016. “Queering Women, Peace and Security.” International Affairs 92 (2): 313–32.

Author: Jamie J. Hagen

Abstract:

The aim of the eight Women, Peace and Security (WPS) United Nations Security Council resolutions, beginning with UNSCR 1325 in 2000, is to involve women in peacebuilding, reconstruction and gender mainstreaming e orts for gendered equality in international peace and security work. However, the resolutions make no mention of masculinity, femininity or the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) population. Throughout the WPS architecture the terms ‘gender’ and ‘women’ are often used interchangeably. As a result, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) tracking and monitoring fail to account for individuals who fall outside a heteronormative construction of who qualifies as ‘women’. Those vulnerable to insecurity and violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity remain largely neglected by the international peace and security community. Feminist security studies and emerging queer theory in international relations provide a framework to incorporate a gender perspective in WPS work that moves beyond a narrow, binary understanding of gender to begin to capture violence targeted at the LGBTQ population, particularly in e orts to address SGBV in conflict-related environments. The article also explores the ways in which a queer security analysis reveals the part heteronormativity and cisprivi- lege play in sustaining the current gap in analysis of gendered violence.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gender Mainstreaming, International Organizations, LGBTQ, Peacebuilding, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325

Year: 2016