Eastern Europe

Citation:

O’Reilly, Maria. “Peace and Justice through a Feminist Lens: Gender Justice and the Women’s Court for the Former Yugoslavia.” Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 10, no. 3 (July 2, 2016): 419–445.

Author: Maria O'Reilly

Abstract:

Post-conflict interventions to ‘deal with’ violent pasts have moved from exception to global norm. Early efforts to achieve peace and justice were critiqued as ‘gender-blind’—for failing to address sexual and gender-based violence, and neglecting the gender-specific interests and needs of women in transitional settings. The advent of UN Security Council resolutions on ‘Women, Peace and Security’ provided a key policy framework for integrating both women and gender issues into transitional justice processes and mechanisms. Despite this, gender justice and equality in (post-)conflict settings remain largely unachieved. This article explores efforts to attain gender-just peace in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). It critically examines the significance of a recent ‘bottom-up’ truth-telling project—the Women’s Court for the former Yugoslavia—as a locally engaged approach to achieving justice and redress for women impacted by armed conflict. Drawing on participant observation, documentary analysis, and interviews with women activists, the article evaluates the successes and shortcomings of responding to gendered forms of wartime violence through truth-telling. Extending Nancy Fraser’s tripartite model of justice to peacebuilding contexts, the article advances notions of recognition, redistribution and representation as crucial components of gender-just peace. It argues that recognizing women as victims and survivors of conflict, achieving a gender-equitable distribution of material and symbolic resources, and enabling women to participate as agents of transitional justice processes are all essential for transforming the structural inequalities that enable gender violence and discrimination to materialize before, during, and after conflict. (Abstract from original)

Keywords: feminism, gender justice, international, local, Nancy Fraser, UNSCR 1325

Topics: Justice, Transitional Justice, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325 Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 2016

Citation:

Molyneux, Maxine, and Shahra Razavi, eds. 2002. Gender Justice, Development, and Rights. New York: Oxford University Press. 

Authors: Maxine Molyneux, Shahra Razavi

Annotation:

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Education, Governance, Indigenous, Political Participation, Privatization, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Americas, Central America, South America, Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe Countries: Chile, India, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Uganda

Year: 2002

Citation:

Neaga D.E. 2012. "'Poor' Romanian Women Between the Policy (Politics) of IMF and Local Government." European Journal of Science and Theology 8 (1): 291-301.

Author: D.E. Neaga

Abstract:

There are a consistent number of studies showing that women are more vulnerable than men in terms of poverty and social exclusion. Romania is not an exception. Poverty and underdevelopment are major topics in the area of international political economy and, in the context of global economic crisis, international institutions like IMF and WB became more and more relevant. The main question to which I try to give an answer in this paper is: how the IMF policies/politics and those of the Romanian government challenged the issue of gender inequalities during the recent economic crisis? In order to do so I will concentrate my arguments in two major directions. First, I will underline the necessity of gender mainstreaming in international political economy and secondly I will analyze the neoliberal project and the Romanian case in terms of a deepening gender gap as a result of the agreement with IMF. (Abstract from original)

Keywords: neoliberalism, economic crisis, women, IMF, international political economy

Topics: Development, Economies, Poverty, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Financial Institutions Regions: Europe, Eastern Europe Countries: Romania

Year: 2012

Citation:

Ivanina, Tatiana, and Svitlana Ievchenko, Nelli Karpets, Olena, Mykytas, Olena Ostapchuk, Natalia Riabushenko, Olga Zhukova, Oksana Yarosh. 2016. “Gender Budgeting in Ukraine: Theory and Practice.” UN Women.

Authors: Tatiana Ivanina, Svitlana Ievchenko, Nelli Karpets, Olena Mykytas, Olena Ostapchuk, Natalia Riabushenko, Olga Zhukova, Oksana Yarosh

Annotation:

"Introduction: Today the policy of gender equality is an important factor of global development and a fundamental human right. Most governments have committed to achieve the gender equality goals and implement the gender perspective in the public policy. To this end, numerous tools and approaches have been developed. Since 1995, a number of international organizations and agencies, including the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, now UN Women), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) etc., has initiated the integration of a gender perspective to the budgets and thus contributed to the development of the concept and strategy of gender-responsive budgeting (GRB). The GRB concept was envisioned as a flexible mechanism of developing the targeted policies to ensure the equitable distribution of resources for different social groups, and it gives researchers and practitioners an opportunity to continuously expand its context, ensuring its functioning as an effective tool to ensure social inclusion and gender equality. Despite all the benefits of gender-responsive budgeting, this strategy is not common in Ukraine. The lack of a single national policy paper that would define the need for GRB implementation and provide a methodological basis for it impedes the introduction of the gender responsive budgeting. As part of the implementation of the Gender-Responsive Budgeting at the Local Level Project (Friedrich Ebert Foundation) and the Program Increasing Accountability in Financing for Gender Equality (UN Women), the domestic methodological approaches to introducing GRB were developed and tested locally. This Handbook contains a description of theoretical and practical approaches for implementing gender-responsive budgeting. The Annexes include a detailed description of the GRB methodology and methodology for costing gender equality. The authors hope that the proposed Handbook will be useful for gender experts and practitioners, officials and civil society activists implementing the gender equality policies at the state and local levels" (Ivanina et al., 2016, p. 5-6).

Topics: Development, Gender, Gender Budgeting, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, International Organizations Regions: Europe, Eastern Europe Countries: Ukraine

Year: 2016

Citation:

Marshall, Katherine, and Susan Hayward, eds. 2015. Women, Religion, and Peacebuilding: Illuminating the Unseen. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press.

Authors: Katherine Marshall, Susan Hayward

Abstract:

Annotation:

Table of Contents:

1. Religious Women’s Invisibility: Obstacles and opportunities
Susan Hayward and Katherine Marshall

2. Part I: Women Peacebuilders: Distinctive Approaches of Different Religious Traditions
Susan Hayward and Katherine Marshall

3. Catholic Women Building Peace: Invisibility, Ideas and Institutions Expand Ideas
Maryann Casimano Love

4. Muslim Women’s Peacebuilding Initiatives
S. Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana

5. Creating Peaceful and Sustainable Communities through the Spiritual Empowerment of Buddhism and Hinduism
Dena Merriam

6. Jewish Women in Peacebuilding: Embracing Disagreement in the Pursuit of “Shalom”
Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen

7. Part II Women and Faith in Action: Regional Case Studies
Susan Hayward and Katherine Marshall

8. An All-Women Peacekeeping Group: Lessons From the Mindanao People’s Caucus
Margaret Jenkins

9. Women, Religion, and Peacebuilding in Kaduna State, Nigeria
Bilkisu Yusuf and Sr. Kathleen McGarvey

10. The Politics of Resistance: Muslim Women Negotiating Peace in Aceh, Indonesia
Etin Anwar

11. Women Reborn: A Case Study of the Intersection of Women, Religion, and Peacebuilding in a Palestinian Village in Israel
Andrea K. Blanch, with coauthors Esther Hertzog and Ibtisam Mahameed

12. Women Citizens and Believers as Agents of Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Zilka Spahic Šiljak

13. Women Peacebuilders in Post-Coup Honduras: Their Spiritual Struggle to Transform Multiple Forms of Violence
Mónica A. Maher

14. Women, Religion and Trauma Healing: A Case in India
Anjana Dayal Prewitt

15. Strengthening Religious Women’s Work for Peace
Jacqueline Ogega and Katherine Marshall

16. Conclusion: Seeking Common Ground
Susan Hayward and Katherine Marshall

17. Appendix: Scholars and Practitioners Engaged with Women, Religion, and Peace

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Peacebuilding, Peacekeeping, Peace Processes, Religion Regions: Africa, MENA, West Africa, Americas, Central America, Asia, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Nigeria, Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories, Philippines

Year: 2015

Citation:

Sinovets, Polina. 2014. “Women and Weapons: Redressing the Gender Gap: A Ukrainian Response.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 70 (5): 21–23.

Author: Polina Sinovets

Abstract:

In nuclear war, women would suffer at least as much as men. But women tend to be underrepresented in fields—such as high-level politics, diplomacy, military affairs, and science and technology—that bear on nuclear policy. Authors from four countries—Salma Malik of Pakistan (2014), Polina Sinovets of Ukraine, Reshmi Kazi of India (2014), and Jenny Nielsen of Denmark (2014)—discuss how women might gain greater influence on nuclear weapons policy and how their empowerment might affect disarmament and nonproliferation efforts.

Keywords: Carol Cohn, education, femininity, feminism, international organizations, masculinity, nuclear politics, nuclear weapons, soft power, women

Topics: Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Analysis, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, International Organizations, Weapons /Arms, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Regions: Europe, Eastern Europe Countries: Ukraine

Year: 2014

Citation:

Toman, Cheryl. 2006. “The Link Between Women’s Studies Programs and Grassroots Organizations in Lebanon, the Balkans, and the Palestinian Territories: A Comparative Study.” Arab Studies Quarterly 28 (2): 55–67.

Author: Cheryl Toman

Abstract:

A primary goal of any women’s program is to create outreach opportunities beyond the university classroom in order to make a difference in one's community, whether at the local level or on the world stage. Thus, it is perhaps not a coincidence that strong Women's Studies programs have developed in Lebanon, the Balkans, and the Palestinian territories alongside successful women's activist groups. Together, they are able to work successfully despite the trials of functioning in conflict regions. This comparative study will analyze various women's organizations in these areas and their relationships with three Women's Studies programs in particular: The Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World in Beirut, the Center for Women's Studies in Zagreb, and the Women's Studies Program at Birzeit University in the West Bank. With a focus on work at the grassroots level as well as on research, these unique university programs in cooperation with women's associations not only aid women trying to survive and overcome the tremendous hardships of everyday life, but they are also playing an essential role, especially in the case of Lebanon and Palestine, in official policy making within their own governments. Lebanon, Croatia, and Palestine have been chosen for this comparison not only for their common ties to the Mediterranean, but also as home to multicultural peoples representing different stages of dealing with war and rebuilding. Although there are other conflict regions with women's activist groups that could be discussed here as well, Lebanon, Croatia, and Palestine stand not in particular since they are the only ones with well-established university programs in Women's Studies. The Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World in Lebanon and the Women's Studies Program at Birzeit University are the only two of their kind in the Arab world just as the Center for Women's Studies in Croatia is a model in Southeastern Europe.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Education, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Political Participation, Post-Conflict Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East, Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Croatia, Lebanon, Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 2006

Citation:

Vijeyarasa, Ramona. 2012. “The Cinderella Syndrome: Economic Expectations, False Hopes and the Exploitation of Trafficked Ukrainian Women.” Women’s Studies International Forum 35 (1): 53–62. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2011.09.004.

Author: Ramona Vijeyarasa

Abstract:

Human trafficking is a multi-causal and multi-dimensional issue. The case of Ukraine evidences this complexity, with relevant factors spanning Ukraine's political history, its relations with the EU and the current state of socio-economic development. This paper focuses on the role of barriers to full and equal participation in the labour market for Ukrainian women as a driver of human trafficking. The purpose is to use qualitative data and secondary sources to assess the extent to which a causal relationship can be identified between labour market barriers and vulnerability to trafficking and trafficking-like conditions that result from the search for economic betterment abroad by irregular or undocumented means. Attention is also paid to the pull factor of images of migrant success abroad, an element which is often neglected in trafficking discussions. Consequently, labour market barriers are intimately connected to the lure of migration success in destination countries, whether true, exaggerated or entirely false.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Violence Regions: Europe, Eastern Europe Countries: Ukraine

Year: 2012

Citation:

 Byrne, Siobhan and Allison McCulloch. 2012. "Gender, Representation and Power-Sharing in Post-Conflict Institutions" International Peacekeeping 19 (5): 565-580

Authors: Siobhan Bryne, Allison McCulloch

Abstract:

An emerging tension characterizes conflict resolution practice: promoting power-sharing between ethnic groups while simultaneously mandating women’s inclusion in peace processes and in post-conflict institutions. Scholars of ethnic conflict have not adequately theorized the gender implications of power-sharing, and practitioners have failed to implement mechanisms that would make power-sharing representative of constituencies beyond ethno-national cleavages. There is no substantive reason why the representation of women and ethnic groups should be in tension. Nevertheless, gender is often ignored in the power-sharing literature and gender-mainstreaming practices appear irreconcilable with power-sharing practice. Drawing on three cases of post-conflict power-sharing – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, and Northern Ireland – this article identifies reasons why this tension remains in practice, especially the overriding emphasis in powersharing on ethno-nationalist elites and conflict protagonists.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Mainstreaming, Peace Processes, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Burundi, United Kingdom

Year: 2012

Citation:

Simic, Olivera. 2016. “Feminist Research in Transitional Justice Studies: Navigating Silences and Disruptions in the Field.” Human Rights Review 17 (1): 95–113.

Author: Olivera Simic

Abstract:

This paper will analyse what it takes to conduct feminist and sensitive research in countries that have seen mass human rights violations. Transitional justice research involves critical examination of difficult topics which raises a number of ethical and methodological issues for both the participants and the researchers. Although empirical research has been a facet of the studies produced in the field, researchers' accounts of undertaking research in often politically sensitive environments is largely missing from published books and research reports. This paper is informed by personal experiences of doing research in wartime rape in the ethnically and politically divided country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I argue that the researcher's profile and positionality directly affects the fieldwork and that fieldwork is a dialogical process which is structured by the researcher and the wider political processes in the country.

Keywords: feminist research, sensitive topics, personal reflections, transitional justice

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Justice, Transitional Justice, Rights, Human Rights, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 2016