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71. How do global supply chains exacerbate gender-based violence against women in the global south?

Author:
Garcia Isabella
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex
Abstract:
In 2018/2019 the CGPE launched an annual Gender & Global Political Economy Undergraduate Essay Prize competition, open to all undergraduate students within the School of Global Studies. The winner of the 2018/2019 competition is Isabella Garcia for the essay “How do global supply chains exacerbate gender-based violence against women in the Global South?” Isabella graduated with a BA in International Relations and Development in July and will join the MA cohort in our Global Political Economy programme for 2019/2020. Given the very strong field of submissions, the award committee further decided to award a second-place prize to Yume Tamiya for the essay “Does the rise of the middle class disguise existing inequalities in Brazil?”. Yume graduated with a BA in International Development with International Education and Development. We are delighted to publish both of these excellent essays in the CGPE Working Paper series.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, Women, Gender Based Violence, and Global South
Political Geography:
Africa, Latin America, Mexico, and Democratic Republic of Congo

72. “We Have Captured Your Women”: Explaining Jihadist Norm Change

Author:
Aisha Ahmad
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Security
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
In recent years, jihadists across the world have transformed their gendered violence, shocking the world by breaking from prior taboos and even celebrating abuses that they had previously prohibited. This behavior is surprising because jihadists represent a class of insurgents that are deeply bound by rules and norms. For jihadists, deviating from established Islamist doctrines is no easy feat. What then explains these sudden transformations in the rules and norms governing jihadist violence? An inductive investigation of contemporary jihadist violence in Pakistan and Nigeria reveals a new theory of jihadist normative evolution. Data from these cases show that dramatic changes in jihadist violence occur when an external trigger creates an expanded political space for jihadist entrepreneurs to do away with normative constraints on socially prohibited types of violence. As these jihadist leaders capitalize on the triggers, they are able to encourage a re-socialization process within their ranks, resulting in the erosion of previously held taboos, the adoption of proscribed behaviors, and the emergence of toxic new norms.
Topic:
Political Violence, Gender Issues, Islam, Terrorism, Women, and Gender Based Violence
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Middle East, and West Asia

73. Women of the Alt-Right: An Intersectional Study of Far-Right Extremism, Gender, & Identity in the United States

Author:
Sarah Kenny
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Women In International Security (WIIS)
Abstract:
The alt-right, an expression of far-right violent extremism, presents a security risk to citizens in the United States and around the world. As globalization, mass immigration, and multiculturalism flourish, various collectives of fearful individuals and populist politicians will continue to embrace ethnonationalist worldviews and employ violent means to enforce them. To combat this security risk, it is essential to acknowledge that women make significant contributions to the altright and violent extremism. Women can no longer be misrepresented and excluded from efforts to prevent and counter this form of violent extremism. Exclusion has proven both disingenuous and dangerous along the road to realizing a comprehensive threat analysis and strategy.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Terrorism, Women, Domestic Politics, Gender Based Violence, and Far Right
Political Geography:
United States

74. Gender Based Violence in the Kosovo War

Author:
Atifete Jahjaga, Olivia Hinch, and Jonah Shrock
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Atifete Jahjaga was President of Kosovo from 2011–2016.
Topic:
Gender Based Violence, Ethnic Cleansing, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Kosovo and Balkans

75. Violence against Women in Afghanistan’s 2018 Parliamentary Elections

Author:
Noah Coburn and Mohammad Hassan Wafaey
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
One of the most significant barriers to female participation in political processes is the threat of violence, in all of its forms and manifestations. There has been in Afghanistan a history of violent reactions to the promotion of women’s rights and their involvement in public politics. In response to this continued challenge, AREU and UN Women partnered to conduct research that would identify various forms and patterns of violence against women in elections (VAWE) and how that violence undermines their capacity to participate in the electoral process in an equal manner. The study aims to better understand VAWE, in order to provide concrete recommendations to respond to and limit such violence in the future.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Women, Gender Based Violence, Feminism, and Participation
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East

76. Sexual Harassment and Domestic Violence in the Middle East and North Africa

Author:
Donia Smaali Bouhlila
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arab Barometer
Abstract:
Arab Barometer wave V survey aims at investigating two types of sexual harassment in public places in 12 Arab countries : verbal sexual harassment and physical sexual harassment. Public places are meant to be streets, public transportation and shopping malls. The questionnaire included a question on the frequency of the verbal sexual harassment and a question on the frequency of physical sexual harassment. The verbal sexual harassment is all the unwanted sexual remarks, whistling or gestures in public places. However, sexual harassment is the unwanted sexual advances, like being touched in public places. People were asked how often they have personally experienced this behavior in the past 12 months. Dierent responses were suggested for the respondent: never, rarely, sometimes and often. We investigate first how common is verbal and physical sexual harassment among the population surveyed. Then, we created a binary variable for sexual harassment combining both verbal and physical sexual harassment. This variable takes the value 1 if the respondent has been exposed either rarely, sometimes or often to both verbal and physical sexual harassment, and zero if not . Most of the surveyed people across the participating countries reported that they “rarely” experienced verbal and physical sexual harassment in the past 12 months. Regarding verbal sexual harassment, from 2 percent to 12 percent of the surveyed people declared being “sometimes” exposed to verbal sexual harassment. The highest proportions are observed in Egypt (10 percent), Iraq (10 percent) and Morocco (11 percent). The lowest proportion which is around 2 percent is observed in Tunisia. For the category “often”, around 2 percent of the respondents declared that they are often victims of verbal sexual harassment in Palestine against 7 percent in Morocco.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Public Opinion, Women, Gender Based Violence, Sexual Violence, and Public Policy
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

77. Gender, Law, and Security (volume II)

Author:
Beth English
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
This volume is a sampling of research conducted by student fellows in the Project on Gender in the Global Community (GGC) at the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University. Over the course of the 2018-19 academic year, GGC fellows pursued independent, academically rigorous research around a topic of their choosing. The papers in this volume represent a variety of disciplines and methodologies, and the range of work undertaken by students throughout the year—some in connection to course work, junior policy seminars and senior theses, others as stand-alone research papers, and still others as short framing essays intended to serve as starting points for larger long-term research projects. The volume is divided into three sections focusing on 1) gender and domestic political contexts, 2) violence against women and women in conflict, and 3) policy and political leadership.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Law, Leadership, Gender Based Violence, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

78. SVRI Forum 2019: Time is now

Author:
SVRI
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)
Abstract:
Two hundred and twenty-one oral presentations, 98 Four Minute Presentations and 21 participant driven side events were delivered over the five days of the Forum. With so much going on it is a mammoth task to distil key new findings shared. This report provides a flavour of what was shared, organised by the nine SVRI Forum themes: Social change, Leave no-one behind, Violence against women and achieving the SDGs, Linkages between VAW and VAC (including CSA), Methods and measures, Scaling up of interventions, Changing social norms and shifting gender inequities, Addressing poverty and gender inequality through economic empowerment and New technologies. Messages that resonated throughout the event were: • We know more about the size of the problem and risk factors for VAW than ever before. • We know that violence is preventable, and we know that we can reduce violence over relatively short periods of time. • We have interventions which have been found effective in reducing violence. • We are deepening our understanding on which components of interventions are effective and for whom. • We are learning more about scaling up and what it costs to do so.
Topic:
Women, Research, Gender Based Violence, Violence, and Sexual Violence
Political Geography:
South Africa and Global Focus

79. “Who Hears My Voice Today?”: Tunisia’s Forgotten Women Victims

Author:
Doris H. Gray
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
Abstract:
This report focuses on “indirect victims” of human rights violations in Tunisia, namely, the wives, sisters, and children of political prisoners in Tunisia, who suffered discrimination, social exclusion, police violence, and harassment as a result of their relatives’ incarceration during the dictatorship, as well as mothers of the martyrs. Though they may not have suffered incarceration, physical torture, or even death like their relatives, these victims were persecuted and discriminated against and experienced severe economic hardship and isolation after a family member was detained for political and/or religious activities. They were dismissed from work, expelled from school, and/or subjected to random police searches and harassment. Some women fled the country to escape a painful life of isolation and harassment, in many cases with their children, carrying nothing but the clothes on their back. Until now, there has been no substantive, systematic study of these victims, who suffered economic blacklisting, denial of due process, as well as other social and economic rights violations. The aim of this report is to shed light on this population of victims that is often overlooked or silenced in the process of transitional justice and post-uprising nation building. Accurate data on the number of people who were detained for political reasons during Tunisia’s dictatorship period (1955–2011), including women activists, has been nearly impossible to collect. What is known is that the immediate and extended family members of these prisoners, who also suffered human rights abuses, continue to live with the consequences of those violations today. Their fate raises important questions in the human rights discourse because the violations they suffered do not fit neatly within typical human rights narratives, which tend to prioritize civil and political violations and violations of physical integrity. The findings in this report are based on extensive interviews conducted with more than 250 women family members of detainees and mothers of martyrs from nine regions and Tunis in July, August, and December 2017. For many victims, the most pervasive and sustained consequences of the human rights violations they suffered have been the break-down of the family and lost confidence in the judicial and political system, coupled with the sowing of mistrust among family members and communities who feel betrayed. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, families are the building blocks of a society; thus, the destruction of the family unit has serious consequences for individuals and society. In most cases, the forced separation of family members—wives from husbands, mothers and fathers from sons and daughters—has led to permanent estrangement or domestic strife. For example, when husbands were incarcerated, the pressure on their wives was sometimes so great that they were compelled to give their children away to be raised by members of their extended family. Further, women who had not previously worked outside the home or who lost their job as a result of being related to an “enemy of the state” had to generate an income and/or depend heavily on the financial and social support of relatives. Women relatives of political prisoners were also harassed by Tunisia’s system of pointage (which required the relatives of prisoners to report daily to different police stations) and having to travel long distances to deliver couffins (traditional baskets) containing food, clothing, blankets, and/or medicine to their incarcerated relatives, who were often relocated to far-away prisons to increase the burden on families. Many women experienced sexual harassment and violence, sometimes at the hands of police officers during their pointage-mandated check-ins, other times by neighbors or others in the community who took advantage of their heightened vulnerability in the absence of male family members. This type of harassment and violence further enhanced these victims’ sense of shame, estrangement, and self-loathing, especially considering the highly conservative religious communities most lived in. Detainees, once released from prison, were often incapable of resuming their normal family relationships with their loved ones, returning from torture chambers to their homes. An inability to engage in healthy marital relations led, in some cases, to violent interactions with their family members. Though many wives, sisters, and mothers feel a need to stand by their persecuted men, interviews revealed that some children resent their father’s political choices, which they blame for destroying their hope for a decent life. In some cases, women were even forced by their family to divorce their husband while he was in prison and marry a man from the police or security forces, in order to lift the weight of alienation and harassment from the extended family. It is essential that this array of consequences be examined in a systematic way, in order to begin to understand the full impact of the state’s willful destruction of families on indirect victims. Many Tunisians have spent a majority of their life living under repressive rule, and from interviews, it seems clear that some of the effects of such a life have not only persisted for the women but in some cases have transferred to their families. The deeply entrenched and justifiable lack of trust in state institutions expressed in interviews with victims (both direct and indirect) can only be repaired with efforts on the part of the state to highlight the human rights violations experienced, address the needs of victims and ensure non-repetition. After the 2011 revolution, Tunisia embarked on a process to address past human rights violations under the comprehensive framework established by the Organic Law on Establishing and Organizing Transitional Justice. The process has faced numerous challenges, including a difficult political terrain, and victims have expressed frustration with the lack of results. The Truth and Dignity Commission was plagued by internal divisions, while the Specialized Chambers has faced slow implementation. The other elements included in the law – reparations, memorialization and institutional reform – are still forthcoming. This report offers documentation and analysis that aims to enhance the current understanding of the experiences of this population of victims. It underscores the importance of actively involving victims in the process of societal transformation. The transitional justice process in Tunisia must recognize the experiences of indirect victims and seek to address the consequences of the violations they faced. This report highlights that this goes beyond ensuring their participation in the process, which is important, to contributing to their ability to exercise agency in their lives and make
Topic:
Gender Issues, Women, Gender Based Violence, Transitional Justice, and Victims
Political Geography:
Africa and Tunisia

80. Influencing Behaviours and Practices to Tackle Poverty and Injustice

Author:
Melanie Kesmaecker-Wissing, Lucy Knight, Ruth Mayne, and Jola Miziniak
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Effective behaviour change strategies can play a vital role in combating poverty, injustice and environmental degradation. They can help prevent violence against women and girls; enable better health, hygiene and environmental behaviours; motivate and empower people to participate in campaigns or to become change makers; or influence people to make more equitable, ethical or sustainable purchasing and investment decisions. There is growing understanding among civil society organizations, governments and others about how to enable behaviour change, but many interventions still rely too much on information provision and awareness raising. This discussion paper draws on learning from theory and practice to provide practitioners with an understanding of the range of influences that shape different behaviours at individual, group, societal and system levels. It suggests a menu of possible interventions to address them, and highlights the need for resources and skill-building. It will be relevant for practitioners involved in programming, humanitarian, influencing and campaigning work, as well as for government officials and donors.
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, Inequality, Gender Based Violence, and Behavior
Political Geography:
Global Focus