WUNRN
Review
Conference of the Programme of Action on Small Arms - PoA
Arms
Trade Treaty - ATT
Direct Link to Full 4-Page Policy
Brief:
Gender and Disarmament: Making
Important Linkages to the ATT and PoA:
Global Action to Prevent War and Armed Conflict (GAPW)
Katherine Prizeman, International Coordinator (katherine@globalactionpw.org)
Melina Lito, Director of the Women’s Project (melina@globalactionpw.org)
I. Introducing Disarmament through a Gender Lens
At GAPW, promoting a robust human security agenda demands
that we develop practical measures for reducing levels of global violence and
removing institutional and ideological impediments to addressing armed
violence, mass atrocities, and severe human rights violations at the earliest
possible stages. In all these priorities, particular importance must be placed
on full participation of women at all levels of decision making. Human security
concerns, including but not limited to diversion in the arms trade, nuclear weapons
proliferation and atrocity crime prevention, are multi-faceted and synergistically
connected such that they require a cross-cutting response with multiple points
of entry. As such, these issues neither operate in a vacuum nor can they be
solved in isolation. In particular, a robust human security agenda demands that
all sectors of the population, most especially women, are provided with a
dependable security sector such that participation in public life is both feasible
and realistic.
Gender equality is essential to the creation of a reliable security
sector, in particular incorporating women’s agency. Generally speaking, women
are often under-represented in social and political life as they tend to have
limited access to education, employment, health care services, reproductive rights,
police and judicial protections. They are also often targets of rape and other
forms of sexual violence.
1 In
addition, traditional notions that women are subordinate or second-class
citizens can have an impact on instances of family violence and abuse, forced
marriage, and forced circumcision, among others.2
Integrating a gender lens into discussions on formation and
sustainability of the security sector entails not only addressing women as part
of vulnerable groups, but also encouraging the role of women as agents of
change who have perspectives, skills and experiences to bring to decision-making
in order to formulate effective security policies for both protection and
holding perpetrators accountable.
Speaking to small arms control more specifically, more
attention must be given to women’s agency as contributors to the reduction and
prevention of the flow of illicit arms. Illicit arms are one of the most
pervasive threats to a dependable security sector, and illegally diverted arms
from the legal market contribute to vast quantities of violence, lawlessness,
and conflict. Furthermore, it is a fact that women are often disproportionately
affected by this violence. Whether in conflict or post-conflict situations,
small arms, including diverted arms from the legal trade, can have a direct or
indirect effect on women as carriers of these weapons, as victims of domestic
violence, as victims of conflict-related sexual violence, and even as
protestors or actors in resistance movements.3
Gender-based violence, violence that either targets a woman
because of her gender or has a disproportionate effect on women, impacts
discrimination against women as it can affect the enjoyment of their
fundamental rights such as the right to liberty and security, equal protection,
and many others.4 With
that in mind, women’s participation in public and political life becomes
increasingly more difficult, if not impossible, when communities are awash in
illegal weapons and dependable security is elusive.
Promotion of the role of women in international peace and security,
especially in political decision-making and peace processes, has been embedded
in Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325, while SCR 1820 stresses that widespread
and systematic sexual violence is a threat to international security.5 Women’s participation in disarmament
policies has also been laid out in General Assembly Resolution 65/69, in which
the General Assembly recognizes the contributions women can have in
disarmament, non-proliferation, and arms control policies and encourages
relevant stakeholders to promote women’s participation in all relevant
decision-making processes.6 Furthermore,
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
recalls that discrimination against women violates equality and is a barrier to
participation. The Convention also reaffirms the commitment to disarmament and
international peace and security,7
while the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) has laid out in its general recommendations that states’
parties protect women from violence suffered in social settings, including
family and work.8
Bearing this in mind, incorporating a gender perspective into
all arms control and disarmament processes is nonnegotiable for GAPW. We seek
to ensure that gender-related issues do not become exclusively ‘soft issues.’ A
gender-balanced approach to disarmament, including full integration of women’s
skills, energies and experiences into efforts to curb the illicit trade in
conventional arms and other disarmament measures, must command a higher security
priority. As our colleagues at the Women’s League for International Peace and
Freedom (WILPF) have noted, gender-inclusive policies are necessary to effectively
address these issues, while noting that gender-based violence is illegitimate
and can seriously undermine the larger notions of peace and security.9 .............