Women and armed conflict: change needed
Women’s multiple and diverse roles in conflict are hidden, poorly understood and, at times, dismissed.
Did you know that 40 per cent of all child soldiers are girls? They are often used as ‘wives’ – ie sex slaves – of the male combatants.
Did you know that in contemporary conflicts, as many as 90 per cent of the casualties are civilians, most of whom are women and children?
Or that of the 14 peace negotiations held under UN auspices in 2011, only four women participated in any of the negotiation teams?
And conflict, war and militarism are gendered processes.
They use, maintain and often promote the traditional ideological construction of “masculinity” and “femininity”: men go to war to defend or promote national/state values, territories and borders, and to protect their ‘own’ women and children.
Women are considered passive, and are the targets of intolerable acts of violence, as a strategy of war.
Women’s multiple and diverse roles in conflict are hidden, poorly understood and, at times, consciously – or unconsciously – dismissed.
And because of this, women are not regarded as equal actors in peace building and democratic development; they are not allowed equal participation in the enforcement of rights and justice and the creation of human security for all.
The absence of women and their perspectives in peace negotiations, post-conflict reconstruction, disarmament, humanitarian relief and peace building, means the absence of sustainable peace and any chance of obtaining human security.
But more importantly, the persistence of wars and conflicts prevent the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights.
According to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), in recent years there has been an increasing number of states spending profusely on military activities; they continue to foster a culture of militarisation by maintaining their military budgets with secrecy, minimum transparency and limited accountability.
In 2013 alone, the total of global military expenditure surpassed USD 1700billion.
The same year, containing and dealing with the consequences of violence cost the world USD9.8 trillion, which accounts for 11.3 per cent of global GDP.
The increasing use of new technologies in conflict, such as armed drones or other dangerous chemicals, poses a clear threat to women’s human rights and human security and dignity in general.
The domestic responsibilities of women and their burden of caring for children, the elderly and the injured, generally increase during conflict.
Women also frequently lack control over productive resources or economic assets, even when they themselves are generating them.
And post-conflict discussion rarely takes into account the role of women during conflicts and doesn’t include appropriate compensation for them.
When demobilising child soldiers, equal attention and benefits should be awarded to the girls as well as the boys.
When conflict ends and displaced populations return to their home communities, there can be competition for scarce resources, land and property; if women’s rights are not protected by law, they can be left without access to the resources needed for livelihood generation, and become more vulnerable to violence and sexual exploitation.
It is time to redefine sustainable peace as the presence of human security, justice and equality, rather than the absence of war.
The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is calling for a culture of peace and of respect for women’s human rights:
For an improved gender balance at decision-making levels of the European External Action Service.
For the appointment of a gender focal point in all of the European Union’s delegations and all Common Security and Defence Policy missions.
For the adoption of a binding “Code of Conduct” on the standards of conduct of military and civilian peacekeeping and humanitarian national and European Union staff while on mission in areas of armed conflict. Such codes should include an unequivocal condemnation of all forms violence against women, including prostitution and trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation;
For women’s human rights to be placed at the core of donor policies for reconstruction and development; and invest in women’s organisations as a means of conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction;
For a guaranteed access to justice (including transitional) for all women, as well as access to reproductive and sexual health services and support programmes, including for women victims of sexual violence;
For the European Union and its member states to cease promoting the current culture of increasing militarisation and redirect their ‘military first’ budgets towards gender-aware budgets that consider the multiple needs of women and address gender equality as a priority; and
For the European Union and its member states to recognise sexual violence and gender-based violence as legitimate grounds for asylum and grant asylum to women who for these reasons have had to flee their country.
After conflict, female voters are four times as likely as men to be targeted for intimidation in elections in fragile and transitional states.
There also tends to be a significant increase in female-headed households during and after conflict – up to 40 per cent of households even – and these are often the most impoverished, all the more so as post-conflict actions don’t include financial compensation.
The European Parliament is one of the most active and engaged European institutions on the issue of women and armed conflict, and several MEPs do consistently drive the issue forward and put pressure the European Union and the European Commission to do more on the issue.
But any mainstreaming of gender equality within EU policy frameworks such as development and humanitarian aid, security and defence policy and missions, and human rights more generally, needs to be comprehensive.
To find out more about the European Women’s Lobby member organisations and partners which are dedicated to supporting and expanding women’s human rights in conflict click on these links: Global Justice Centre, Women in International Security (WIIS) and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
And forward this post to your MEP so they know too.
No comments:
Post a Comment