International Organizations

Women participants in Conflict

Bringing Gender In? EU Foreign and Security Policy after Brexit

Citation:

Haastrup, Toni, Katharine A. M. Wright, and Roberta Guerrina. 2019. "Bringing Gender In? EU Foreign and Security Policy after Brexit." Politics and Governance 7 (3): 62-71.

Authors: Toni Haastrup, Katharine A. M. Wright, Roberta Guerrina

Abstract:

In this article, we identify Brexit as a critical process, wherein the EU has had the opportunity to reflect on and reinforce its identity, as a promoter of gender issues within the security domain. It draws on this identity from a foundational myth of the EU as gender equality polity, resulting in the creation of a socio-legal order and sustained discourse on gender inclusivity in all policy areas. Existing scholarship has drawn attention to the EU’s particular success in gender equality promotion in the areas of social inclusion at member state level, including in the UK. But, is the EU’s reach comprehensive beyond this policy sphere? We examine the ways in which gender is manifested in the area of foreign policy, an area where the UK has consistently shown some leadership on the integration of gender perspectives in its foreign policy through its international development programmes and the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. It is therefore timely to consider what impact Brexit has on EU policies, practices and the promotion of gender equality in this policy domain. Using a critical feminist lens, this article looks at the evolution of gender equality as a dimension of EU foreign and security policy in the context of EU–UK relations, and the divergences, opportunities and constraints that are crystallised by the Brexit process.

Keywords: Brexit, critical feminism, EU, foreign policy, gender, gender equality, UK, women's agency

Topics: Feminisms, Feminist Foreign Policy, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, UNSCR 1820 Regions: Europe, Northern Europe Countries: United Kingdom

Year: 2019

Gender Mainstreaming in a Post-Conflict State

Citation:

D’Costa, Bina and Katrina Lee-Koo, ed. 2009. Gender Mainstreaming in a Post-Conflict State. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Authors: Bina D'Costa, Katrina Lee-Koo

Abstract:

Gender equality is widely believed by international organizations and mainstream commentators to contribute to the consolidation of democratic norms and domestic and international peace.1 The United Nations (UN) has promoted strategies for achieving gender equality as a central part of its peacebuilding and reconstruction programs. In Bosnia, Kosovo, and East Timor, UN missions have incorporated gender mainstreaming and gender-balanced decision-making policies and programs to foster civil society as means to ensure long-term peace and development. To what extent, though, are these institutional initiatives able to transform the deep-seated gendered social hierarchies in these new states? Feminist scholars argue that such hierarchies are at the root of violence against women, women’s lack of voice, and political representation. They hold that any meaningful democratic strategy must eliminate these hierarchies to bring about political freedom and equality. In Timor these feminist perspectives on gender justice and equality are an emerging part of the public debate about the processes of democratization in state and civil society. They can be seen in speeches, communications, and reports of local women’s organizations, donor agencies, NGOs, and the UN, however, this political activity has yet to be theoretically analyzed by feminist or nonfeminist scholars. Here we seek to highlight some of the gendered practices of democratization and assess the struggles within East Timorese civil society to forge a gender-equal democracy.

Keywords: civil society, domestic violence, United Nations, gender equality, gender perspective

Topics: Civil Society, Democracy / Democratization, Development, Domestic Violence, Feminisms, Gender, Gender Analysis, Gendered Discourses, Gender-Based Violence, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Hierarchies, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding, Political Participation, Peacekeeping Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Oceania Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Timor-Leste

Year: 2009

The Case for Transformative Reparations for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Rakhine State at the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights

Citation:

Bradley, Samantha. 2019. "The Case for Transformative Reparations for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Rakhine State at the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights." Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law 20 (2): 181-226.

Author: Samantha Bradley

Abstract:

This article addresses the question of whether Rohingya victims of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in Rakhine State in 2017 have recourse to transformative reparations at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). CRSV was widespread during the August 2017 non-international armed conflict in Rakhine State. CRSV also occurred in the context of longstanding subjugation of the Rohingya minority by the Government of Myanmar and Myanmar’s security forces perpetrating sexual violence against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities. Transformative reparations for CRSV are reparations intended to engender structural changes to improve victims’ circumstances and guarantee non-recurrence. An evaluation of ASEAN’s human rights frameworks and the mandate, purposes and principles underpinning the AICHR, reveals unexplored potential for transformative reparations for CRSV at the AICHR for Rohingya victims of CRSV in Rakhine State in 2017. The ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance is well placed to coordinate the delivery of transformative reparations in Myanmar.

Keywords: conflict-related sexual violence, reparations, transformative reparations, ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, ASEAN Human Rights Declaration

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnicity, Humanitarian Assistance, International Organizations, Justice, Reparations, Rights, Human Rights, Sexual Violence Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Myanmar

Year: 2019

The 'Transformative' in Reparations: Women, Nation and Victimhood in Croatia

Citation:

Saric, Josipa. 2018. "The 'Transformative' in Reparations: Women, Nation and Victimhood in Croatia." PhD diss., University of Kent.

Author: Josipa Saric

Abstract:

This thesis interrogates the assumption that women's inclusion in the design of reparations increases their potential to transform structural gender inequality. In recent years, the call for increasing 'women's participation' in the design and implementation of reparations for victims of conflict-related sexual violence has gained substantial traction in both scholarship and policy. While existing research has focused on the structural obstacles that place limitations on women's participation in reparation processes, little has been said about how women's participation may limit the transformative potential of reparations. Drawing on a wide range of qualitative data, ranging from interviews to social media content, this case study takes a socio-legal approach to examine the role of a Croatian right-wing, non-feminist women's group in the process of drafting and adopting a reparation law for victims of conflict-related sexual violence and considers how this group's involvement has impacted the reparation law's potential to transform structural gender inequality in Croatia. The thesis shows that the women's group acquired influence that directed the course of the legislative process and the outcome of the law due to its particular discourse, strategic actions, calculated compromises and the socio-political context at the time. Furthermore, the thesis argues that the women's group's influence facilitated the reparation law's alignment to a particular nationalist discourse which, due to the inextricable link between gender and nationalism, places limitations on the law's potential to transform structural gender inequality in Croatia. Finally, it presents three important points to consider when conducting an evaluation of the law's implementation and embarking on the design of future transformative reparation initiatives in nationalist contexts. First, that the inclusion of women and victims may not necessarily lead to developing reparations that aim to transform structural gender inequality. Second, that a reparation law exclusively aimed at victims of conflict-related sexual violence designed in a context saturated with nationalism may reinforce gender inequality. And third, that the involvement of international bodies in the design and implementation of reparations in nationalist contexts may be used by local grassroots movements to put pressure on the state in unforeseen ways that do not challenge structural gender inequality.

Topics: Conflict, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations, Justice, Reparations, Nationalism, Political Participation, Sexual Violence Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Croatia

Year: 2018

The History and Nature of Sexual Misconduct in Peace Operations

Citation:

Westendorf, Jasmine Kim. 2020. "The History and Nature of Sexual Misconduct in Peace Operations." In Violating Peace: Sex, Aid, and Peacekeeping, 20-54. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Author: Jasmine-Kim Westendorf

Annotation:

Summary:
"I begin by briefly tracing the history of sexual exploitation and abuse in peace operations before delineating a typology of sorts that distinguishes between four main types of behavior that fall under the category of sexual exploitation and abuse. This is crucial to the study of how such behaviors affect the international community's capacity to achieve its peacebuilding goals and why policy responses have largely failed to date. I then discuss the causal and contextual factors that underpin the perpetration of sexual exploitation and abuse and consider the interconnections between the abuses by interveners, conflict-related sexual violence, and sexual harassment and abuse perpetrated within the international intervener community. Finally, I will look in greater detail at the issue of sexual misconduct by civilian interveners. To date, the majority of data and analysis has focused on uniformed peacekeepers, despite the fact that civilian peacekeepers are more responsible per capita for allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in peace operations and despite growing awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual harassment and abuse within intervener communities. Understanding this particular element of the puzzle is critical to developing a comprehensive understanding of the nature, causes, and consequences of sexual exploitation and abuse in peace operations." (Westendorf 2020, 22)

Topics: Conflict, International Organizations, Peacekeeping, Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

Year: 2020

WPS and Peacekeeping Economies

Citation:

Jennings, Kathleen M. 2019. "WPS and Peacekeeping Economies." In The Oxford Handbook of Women, Peace, and Security, edited by Sara E. Davies and Jacqui True, 237-47. New York: Oxford University Press. 

Author: Kathleen M. Jennings

Abstract:

In recent years, scholars have sought to understand the relationship between international interveners and locals within peacekeeping communities. To do so, these scholars explore the everyday encounters between these actors through their interactions in the “peacekeeping economy.” Peacekeeping economy refers to the formal and informal economic activity that would or would not occur at a lower scale and pay-rate, without the presence of international peacekeepers and peace-builders. They are highly gendered in ways that accord to common understandings of “women’s work” and “men’s work.” However, the venues and services of the peacekeeping economy offer the rare opportunity for peacekeepers and “ordinary” locals to meet, transact, and interact in peacekeeping environments. This chapter examines the peacekeeping economies in Liberia and the DR Congo gaining unique insight into how the goals of “protection” and “prevention” are understood and embodied in the largely informal, “everyday” spaces that populate peacekeeping environments. Drawing on these case studies, this chapter argues that the everyday political-economic contexts in which peacekeeping missions unfold challenge the WPS aims of gender equality.

Keywords: DR Congo, Liberia, peacekeeping economy, everyday spaces, women's work, men's work

Topics: Economies, Gender, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations, Livelihoods, Peacekeeping Regions: Africa, Central Africa, West Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia

Year: 2019

Peacekeeping, Human Trafficking, and Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

Citation:

Vandenberg, Martina. 2018.  "Peacekeeping, Human Trafficking, and Sexual Abuse and Exploitation." In The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Conflict, edited by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Naomi Cahn, Dina Francesca Haynes, and Nahla Valji. Oxford University Press. 

Author: Martina Vandenberg

Abstract:

This chapter provides an overview of human trafficking and other forms of sexual abuse committed by peacekeepers and civilians employed in peacekeeping missions. It opens with a historical review of violations committed by peacekeepers and the current international response to the issue. The chapter introduces relevant international legal instruments, including the UN Protocol to Suppress, Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons, and examines the United Nations’ response to various instances of misconduct. Focusing on Bosnia and Herzegovina and the MINUSCA mission in the Central African Republic, the chapter details the consistent failure of national courts to prosecute offenders and the inability of the UN to take action beyond repatriating the offenders. The chapter closes with recommendations for the UN to move beyond prevention work to improve enforcement of peacekeeper conduct policies.

Keywords: human trafficking, sexual abuse, peacekeepers, peacekeeping mission, UN Protocol to Suppress, Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central African Republic, MINUSCA

Topics: International Law, International Organizations, Peacekeeping, Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Africa, Central Africa, Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Central African Republic

Year: 2018

"Being Strong Enough to Defend Yourself": Untangling the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda amidst the Ukranian Conflict

Citation:

O'Sullivan, Mila. 2019. ""Being Strong Enough to Defend Yourself": Untangling the Women, Peace and Security Agenda amidst the Ukrainian Conflict." International Feminist Journal of Politics 21 (5): 746-67.

Author: Mila O'Sullivan

Abstract:

Following the outbreak of armed conflict in 2014, Ukraine adopted a National Action Plan within United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 for the period 2016–20, the first country in conflict to do so. Ukraine's case demonstrates that in a situation of active conflict, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda becomes strongly linked to military security. Drawing on interviews, documents, and narratives by feminist and public figures, I argue that the WPS agenda in Ukraine has taken a narrow militarized form as a result of a combination of three interrelated and mutually constitutive factors: the ongoing conflict, nationalistic feminism, and the role of international organizations. The open conflict has generated a militaristic and nationalistic discourse among mainstream Ukrainians with an emphasis on defending the country. This discourse has been translated by international organizations and national actors into the WPS agenda, which has prioritized security sector reforms. Implementation of the WPS agenda in Ukraine therefore seems to be at odds with this norm's feminist principles. It is not leading to peace but to militarization, neglecting broader insecurities, including socioeconomic inequalities that have, in turn, been exacerbated by the conflict and the state's institutional reforms.

Keywords: conflict, UNSCR 1325, women, peace and security, Ukraine, nationalism, international organizations

Topics: Armed Conflict, Conflict, Feminisms, International Organizations, Livelihoods, Nationalism, Peace Processes, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325 Regions: Europe, Eastern Europe Countries: Ukraine

Year: 2019

The Importance of Gender Parity in the UN's Efforts on International Peace and Security

Citation:

Valji, Nahla, and Pablo Castillo. 2019. "The Importance of Gender Parity in the UN's Efforts on International Peace and Security." Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations 20 (2): 4-19.

Authors: Nahla Valji, Pablo Castillo

Keywords: equality, gender, gender parity, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, United Nations, women, Africa

Annotation:

Summary: 
“In January 2017, Antonio Guterres began his tenure as the ninth Secretary-General of the UN. In taking the oath of office, he pledged to achieve gender parity in the world body for the first time in seven decades. In just over a year, gender parity was reached in 2018 in both the Secretary-General's senior management group--his 'cabinet' made of many the heads of various UN departments and agencies in headquarters--and among Resident Coordinators, effectively the heads of the UN at the country level. The road to the ultimate goal of parity at all levels across the Organization will be a longer process, as laid out in the Secretary-General's System-Wide Strategy on Gender Parity. Here, Valji and Castillo highlight the continued stark absence of women from key policy spaces and sites of power and restates the case for the importance of gender parity as a fundamental building block of both gender equality and the overall effectiveness of institutions and outcomes.” (Valji and Castillo 2019, 4)

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Balance, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations, Peace and Security, Peacekeeping, Peace Processes

Year: 2019

Women at the Peace Table: The Gender Dynamics of Peace Negotiations

Citation:

McWilliams, Monica. 2015. "Women at the Peace Table: The Gender Dynamics of Peace Negotiations." In Gender and Peacebuilding, edited by Maureen Flaherty, 229-244. London: Lexington Press.

Author: Monica McWilliams

Abstract:

Where violence and conflict have become the norm, negotiating an agreement built on peace and justice can be a challenging prospect for those involved. Since 2000, with the introduction of Security Council Resolutions on women, peace, and security, the United Nations has asserted that the environment enabling peace agreements become more inclusive of women and that gender perspectives be taken into account throughout the peace building process. This chapter draws on examples from the Northern Ireland peace process to show the changes that took place when a group of women moved out of the political activism of civic society to become engaged in the more formal politics of peace negotiations. The women activists grasped the opportunities of the “constitutional moment” to frame gender-specific interests within the new constitutional framework of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. They built on skills honed through years of activism to form the Women’s Coalition, a political party that was involved in the multi-party peace negotiations, and became signatories to the peace agreement. However, in the transitional space that opens up following a peace agreement, what gets resourced and implemented often falls short of what was promised. Despite its success in the negotiating process, enforcing the proposals on women’s interests in the aftermath proved to be the most difficult task. Where a democratic deficit exists, with women continuing to be excluded from political participation, those who have struggled to build a new society will ask for whom was the reconstruction meant. For a genuinely transformative process to take place, women’s interests must not be left in the “aspirational/to do” list but instead form a central part of the “constitutional” and legislative guarantees for the new society.

Keywords: women, gender, peace processes, peace agreements, Northern Ireland

Topics: Civil Society, Democracy / Democratization, Conflict, Gender, Women, International Organizations, Justice, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Political Participation, Peace Processes, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, Violence Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: United Kingdom

Year: 2015

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