Peacekeeping

Citation:

Simic, Olivera. 2010. “Does the Presence of Women Really Matter? Towards Combating Male Sexual Violence in Peacekeeping Operations.” International Peacekeeping (13533312) 17 (2): 188–199.

Author: Olivera Simic

Abstract:

Women are being encouraged to join peacekeeping operations as sexual violence problem-solving forces while simultaneously undertaking a complex role as ‘protectors’ of local women from local men and male peacekeepers. Since the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 in 2000, the UN has urged states to deploy more women. Among the implicit assumptions underlying these calls are that an increase in the representation of women in peacekeeping operations (PKOs) will lead to a decrease in the cases of HIV/AIDS, a decline in the number of brothels around peacekeeping bases, and a reduction in the number of babies fathered and abandoned by peacekeepers after their mission comes to an end. Evidence suggests that the presence of women peacekeepers can and does foster a change in male behaviour when women are deployed in PKOs. This article argues, however, that countering abuse should not be a substitute for the more encompassing goal of improving gender balance and equality in PKOs. While there is a need to combat sexual violence in PKOs, the responsibility for prevention should be on troop-contributing countries, which need to exercise accountability and prosecute sexual violence committed by their peacekeepers. Diverting responsibility to women does not address the problem of sexual violence in PKOs, or help eradicate its causes.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Balance, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations, Peacekeeping, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators, SV against Women

Year: 2010

Citation:

Sanghera, Gurchaten, Marsha Henry, and Paul Higate. 2008. “Peacekeepers as New Men? Security and Masculinity in the United Nations Mission in Liberia.” SPAIS Working paper 02-08, School of Sociology, Politics, and International Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.

Authors: Gurchaten Sanghera , Marsha Henry, Paul Higate

Abstract:

Drawing on a small scale qualitative study of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), this paper provides an insight into the ways in which those who work and live in this post- conflict site made sense of the styles of security provided by male peacekeepers. Interview material was subject to analyses through the gendered lens in ways that sought to examine the extent to which male peacekeepers were seen as derivatives of the ‘New Man’ on account of their dominant representation as ‘soft warrior’ in UN and other imagery. A three stage typology was developed from the data including the ‘hard (traditional) warrior’, the ‘soft warrior/humanitarian’ and the ‘peacekeeper as New Man’. Our findings suggested that national contingent identity shaped participant understandings of the gendered styles of peacekeepers security practices to which they were subject. Here, Nigerian troops of the previous ECOMOG presence were seen as ‘hard men’, Bangladeshi troops were considered as somewhat ‘weak’ or ‘soft’ and Swedish and Irish contingent personnel were framed as ‘fair’ and ‘professional’. In conclusion we argue that different styles of peacekeeping articulated at a national level find expression ‘on-the-ground’, as they converge with national stereotypes held by participants. In this way perceptions of national identity arose at the interface of (1) national-domestic approaches to peacekeeping (2) observable security practice and (3) imaginings of particular peacekeeper masculinities. In turn these gave rise to the content and form of national stereotypes through which male peacekeepers masculinised identities were perceived to shape the provision of a variety of securities.

Topics: Gender, Men, Masculinity/ies, Humanitarian Assistance, International Organizations, Peacekeeping, Post-Conflict, Security Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2008

Citation:

Punyarut, Nunlada. 2006. “Violence Against Women, Sex Industry and The Business of United Nations Peace Operations.” Thai Journal of Public Administration 4 (1–2549): 81–99.

Author: Nunlada Punyarut

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, International Organizations, Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods, Peacekeeping, Sexual Violence, SV against Women, Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Thailand

Year: 2006

Citation:

Duncanson, Claire. 2009. “Forces for Good? Narratives of Military Masculinity in Peacekeeping Operations.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 11 (1): 63–80.

Author: Claire Duncanson

Abstract:

Evidence of military involvement in sexual exploitation and aggression against civilians on peacekeeping operations has led many feminists to question the appropriateness of using soldiers to create peace. They argue that the problems stem from a particular form of military masculinity, hegemonic within western militaries, associated with practices of strength, toughness and aggressive heterosexuality. Masculinities, however, are multiple, dynamic and contradictory. As they are constructed in relation to the contexts men find themselves in, involvement in peacekeeping may itself play a role in the construction of alternative military masculinities. Examining autobiographical accounts of soldiers involved in peacekeeping in Bosnia in the 1990s, I argue that there is evidence of an alternative discourse of ‘peacekeeper masculinity’, but question whether it fully challenges the hegemony of the warrior model. I acknowledge that peacekeeper masculinity is also problematic because although it disrupts elements of the traditional linkages between militarism and masculinity, it still relies on a feminized and racialized ‘Other’. Yet, I suggest that this is not the only way in which peacekeeper masculinity can be viewed. It can alternatively be considered part of a ‘regendered military’, which may be a necessary component of successful conflict resolution.

Keywords: militarised masculinity, masculinities, peacekeeping operations

Topics: Gender, Masculinity/ies, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Peacekeeping, Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 2009

Citation:

Dittmer, Cordula, and Maja Apelt. 2008. “About Intervening in Vulnerable Societies: Gender in Military Peacekeeping of the Bundeswehr.” In Women in the Military and in Armed Conflict, edited by Helena Carreiras and Gerhard Kümmel, 63–80. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.

Authors: Cordula Dittmer, Maja Apelt

Topics: Gender, Women, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Peacekeeping Regions: Europe, Central Europe Countries: Germany

Year: 2008

Citation:

Puechguirbal, Nadine. 2007. “Haiti: Putting Gender and Peacekeeping into Practice.” Focal Point 6 (9): 1,3.

Author: Nadine Puechguirbal

Topics: Gender, Peacekeeping Regions: Americas, Caribbean countries Countries: Haiti

Year: 2007

Citation:

Cockburn, Cynthia, and Dubravka Žarkov. 2002. The Postwar Moment: Militaries, Masculinities and International Peacekeeping, Bosnia and the Netherlands. London: Lawrence & Wishart.

Authors: Cynthia Cockburn, Dubravka Žarkov

Abstract:

A postwar moment is one of promise - but too often of missed opportunities. Will peace bring a democratic, inclusive and equal society? This depends on many factors, but the contributors to this book argue that one of them - crucial but often overlooked - is the importance accorded to transforming gender power relations. Through a focus on two countries, Bosnia and the Netherlands, linked through a "peace-keeping operation", the contributors illuminate the many ways in which processes of demilitarisation and peace-keeping are structured by notions of masculinity and femininity. The Dayton Peace Agreement failed to acknowledge the gendered nature of the war it ended. Gender was also neglected by the many powerful international institutions and agencies which arrived in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995 to pacify and administer the war-torn country. Several chapters in the book consider these shortcomings in the Bosnian postwar moment, and the way they have impeded local women's efforts to reshape their world. The Dutch contingent of the UN peace-keeping forces was widely held responsible for failing to prevent the massacre by Bosnian Serb forces of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men in Srebrenica. The self-questioning provoked in the Netherlands by this event here becomes a rich source of insight into relationships between soldiering and masculinities, war-fighting and peace-keeping. (Amazon)

Topics: Gender, Masculinity/ies, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, International Organizations, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Peacekeeping, Post-Conflict Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Western Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Netherlands

Year: 2002

Citation:

Notar, Susan A. 2006. “Peacekeepers as Perpetrators: Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Women and Children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law 14 (2): 413-429.

Author: Susan A. Notar

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, International Law, International Criminal Law, International Organizations, Justice, Peacekeeping, Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Regions: Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2006

Citation:

Bridges, Donna, and Debbie Horsfall. 2009. “Increasing Operational Effectiveness in UN Peacekeeping: Toward a Gender-Balanced Force.” Armed Forces & Society 36 (1): 120–30.

Authors: Donna Bridges, Debbie Horsfall

Abstract:

In this article, the authors argue that an increased percentage of female military personnel on UN peacekeeping operations is beneficial to operational effectiveness. They establish a case for a greater proportion of female service personnel that is based on three main premises: (1) a force adequately representative of female service personnel in peacekeeping operations will combat sexual misconduct perpetrated by some male soldiers, (2) peacekeeping is a task of great consequence and is best served by a force representative of both genders, (3) a greater proportion of female military personnel engenders trust and improves the reputation of peacekeepers among local populations. Literature reviews, including media reviews, research, and policy reports compiled by the Australian Defence Force (ADF), other Western militaries, and the United Nations, inform the above assertions and are augmented by research data from interviews with female personnel from the ADF.

Keywords: peacekeeping, women, Gender, Australian Defence Force

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Balance, International Organizations, Peacekeeping, Sexual Violence

Year: 2009

Citation:

Whitworth, Sandra. 2004. Men, Militarism, and UN Peacekeeping: A Gendered Analysis. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Author: Sandra Whitworth

Abstract:

Sandra Whitworth looks behind the rhetoric to investigate - from a feminist perspective - the realities of military intervention under the UN flag. Whitworth contends that there is a fundamental contradiction between portrayals of peacekeeping as altruistic and benign and the militarized masculinity that underpins the group identity of soldiers. (WorldCat)

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Men, Masculinity/ies, Gender Analysis, International Organizations, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Militarization, Peacekeeping Regions: Africa, East Africa, Americas, North America, Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Cambodia, Canada, Somalia

Year: 2004