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21. Forced Marriage by Non-state Armed Groups: Frequency, Forms, and Impact

Author:
Phoebe Donnelly and Emily Myers
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
Many non-state armed groups use forced marriage during armed conflict. This practice has been documented across all geographic regions, in every decade since the 1940s, and across armed groups with many different ideologies. Yet while policymakers, scholars, and practitioners recognize forced marriage as an important form of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), there are no frameworks for conceptualizing the frequency and range of forms of forced marriage that occur in conflict. To fill that gap, this paper introduces an original dataset tracking forced marriage in armed conflict and uses the data and illustrative examples to divide forced marriage in armed conflict into three types: member–member forced marriage, member–civilian forced marriage, and civilian–civilian forced marriage. This dataset can be a tool for policymakers and practitioners to understand the impacts of forced marriage in armed conflict and better design prevention strategies and survivor-centered responses. The report concludes with an overview of existing policy, legal, and programmatic responses to forced marriage in conflict settings, including by non-state armed groups, and provides recommendations for how these responses can better address this complex phenomenon: Data collection: Disaggregate data on CRSV by the form of violence (when possible), avoid linking sexual slavery and forced marriage, and gather more data on the unique needs of survivors of forced marriage. Criminal accountability: Continue prosecuting forced marriage as a distinct crime against humanity and promote the inclusion of forced marriage as a distinct crime against humanity during negotiations on the treaty on crimes against humanity. Sanctions: Continue to include information on CRSV in the reports of sanctions monitoring committees, ensure that sanctions listing criteria are applied against perpetrators of forced marriage, and ensure that every panel of experts includes at least one member with expertise on gender issues or CRSV. Reintegration: Factor the different types of forced marriage into the design of reintegration programs and provide support that considers the unique needs of individuals exiting forced marriage.
Topic:
Security, Armed Forces, Women, Peace, Armed Conflict, and Forced Marriage
Political Geography:
Global Focus

22. Advancing Equity: Mentorship in Peace and Security

Author:
Kimberly Gillies
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS)
Abstract:
In this report, we synthesize findings from original interviews and extensive research into what makes an effective DEI strategy, the impact of mentorship —particularly on people of color—and how to elevate equity-focused mentoring within the fields of peace, security, and foreign policy. We close with a recommendation to CRAVE mentoring opportunities by founding, joining, or supporting initiatives that: create opportunity for cross-identity contact; establish responsibility structures; cultivate social accountability for involvement; are voluntary; and engage participants in their evolution.
Topic:
Security, Women, Diversity, Peace, Inclusion, Equity, People of Color (POC), and Mentorship
Political Geography:
Global Focus

23. A Conceptual Take on Transnational Families: Atypical Families from a Distance

Author:
Nur Banu Kavaklı
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:
Altinbas University
Abstract:
Transnational families are among the by-products of global capitalism, the feminization of migration and the globalization of care work. Transnational families owe their existence to the rise of communication and transportation technologies, economic transformations, and cultural features in their countries of origin and destination. A transnational family is different from an ordinary immigrant family. The defining factor is not the act of cross-border movement of the family, but the dispersion of the family, nuclear or extended, across international borders, where different family members spend time in one or another country depending on various factors. The emergence of transnational family experience relates to economic, political, social, and cultural factors, and has far-reaching causes and consequences. This study offers a new conceptual approach to the discussion of transnational families departing from Judith Stacey’s (1996) “postmodern family condition”. As a family arrangement made possible in the postmodern family condition, transnational families better describe situations in which families are not visible yet not absent, not necessarily broken but separated. Transnational families require a whole new understanding and definition of familial relationships, which should focus on the fluid nature of those in the absence of a concrete family setting. The role of immigrant women in such a family structure stands as a challenge to the stereotypical “modern family” as defined by Stacey; hence, enabling the conceptualization of transnational families as part of the postmodern condition. The impact transnational family experience has on various actors involved is examined by asking some fundamental questions such as: How are the decisions concerning who migrate under what conditions taken? How does the transnational family experience affect gender relations? What are the global and local conditions that make this experience possible? This study employs a three-layered approach to analyze the issue. First, the structural backdrop to transnational families is analysed; namely, the expansion of global capitalism that feeds female labour migration and the demand for the service sector, especially domestic care services. Second, the changes in the concept of family due to societal structural transformations and the emergence of new family forms are discussed. Third, the consequences of the first two aspects of the experience of transnational family life and its impact on parties involved at various levels are analysed: providers of care work and their families (parents, children, and extended family members), receivers of care work (employers and their families), and mediators of global care work (agencies and states).
Topic:
Migration, Women, Capitalism, Family, transnationalism, Motherhood, and Care work
Political Geography:
Global Focus

24. Is Feminist Foreign Policy driving progress for women’s representation in diplomacy?

Author:
Caroline Green, Marta Kozielska, and Karen E. Smith
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
LSE IDEAS
Abstract:
Building on an October 2022 Women in Diplomacy online event, this Strategic Update assesses the implications of feminist foreign policy (FFP) adoption for driving progress on improving women’s representation in diplomacy. Tracking the spread of FFPs globally and the ministers responsible for implementation, this paper focuses on their potential for improving or strengthening the role of women in diplomacy – including in ambassadorial and cabinet foreign-policy roles.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Women, Feminism, and Representation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

25. Financing Women, Peace and Security: A Review of WPS National Action Plans from 2005 to 2022

Author:
Our Secure Future
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Our Secure Future
Abstract:
This publication is a policy brief accompanying an upcoming in-depth report on financing Women, Peace and Security (WPS) National Action Plans (NAP). This brief provides an overview of WPS NAPs, as well as the current state of funding for WPS NAP implementation, and a breakdown of this data by region. Stay tuned for the upcoming report to learn more about financing WPS NAPs. Key Findings: • As of early 2023, 31 countries out of 101 have estimated the amount of money required to implement WPS NAP activities. Available information does not illuminate whether these funds are secured. • More than 50 WPS NAPs out of 101 mention that a budget is needed to implement WPS activities, but do not include specification of funding. • The majority of WPS NAPs with budget estimates identify responsible parties for activity implementation, including ministries and/or government institutions, predominantly related to foreign affairs and gender equality.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Budget, Women, Finance, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

26. Breaking the Glass Chamber: Women's Political Careers in Britain and Around the World

Author:
Lyndsey Jenkins, Minna Cowper-Coles, and Sofia Collignon
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
2022 marks a series of historic anniversaries for women in British politics. Forty years since the election of Harriet Harman, the Mother of the House; thirty-five years since the election of the first Black woman MP, Diane Abbott; thirty years since the first woman, Betty Boothroyd, was elected Speaker of the House; and twenty-five years since the election of more than a hundred women MPs for the Labour Party. At its landmark Breaking the Glass Chamber conference from 15 to 17 September 2022, the Mile End Institute brought together historians, political scientists, and sociologists to explore what politics meant to and for women in the second half of the twentieth century. In this video, introduced by Dr Lyndsey Jenkins, Dr Sofia Collignon talks to Dr Minna Cowper-Coles about her comparative research on the motivations, challenges, and experiences of women political leaders around the world. Sofia highlights that women leaders are typically highly professionalised, highly skilled, and highly experienced, and notes that 63 per cent have a Masters degree or PhD.
Topic:
Elections, Women, Domestic Politics, and Representation
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and Global Focus

27. Women, peace and security beyond resolutions

Author:
Karmen Tornius, Marie Kolling, and Lars Engberg-Pedersen
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Experiences of implementing the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda in African countries indicate a need to focus on engaging civil society and grassroots actors as well as developing adequate reporting systems. Denmark’s candidacy for the non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2025-26 would benefit from a strong position on the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda both nationally and locally by all UN member states.
Topic:
Security, United Nations, Women, Peace, UN Security Council, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Africa, Denmark, and Global Focus

28. Women’s Rights as Human Rights: The History of the Transnational Feminist Organization – Women Living Under Muslim Laws

Author:
Anniesa Hussain and Dana Kamour
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
Over the last 28 years, the language of women’s rights has become entwined with human rights and constitutional rights discourse, particularly in the Global North. The slogan, “women’s rights are human rights,” was publicly adopted into the document in the aftermath of Hilary Clinton’s renowned speech in September 1995.[i] It was here, at the Fourth World Conference on Women, that 89 governments finally conceded that any law discriminating against women directly violated their freedoms and right to equality.[ii] While this slogan gained unprecedented attention at the Beijing Conference, the notion itself was birthed much earlier. Throughout three successive conferences, held in Mexico City in 1975, Copenhagen in 1980, and Nairobi in 1985, women’s groups called for a legal framework to uphold gender equality.[iii] These women hailed from diverse ethnicities and nationalities, gathering to bring attention to the various ways in which gender-based violence and discriminatory practices were affecting their lives, such as sexual abuse and marital and child custody discrimination. The transnational feminist network Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) was officially formed in 1984 with the aim of promoting human rights, gender justice, and equality for those women whose lives are shaped, conditioned, or governed by patriarchal and/or authoritarian interpretations of Islam. WLUML played an increasingly front-line role in international conferences from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. At the Beijing conference, for example, WLUML formed part of the influential civil society, and Farida Shaheed, one of WLUML’s founding members and sociologist by profession, was also present as a representative for the government of Pakistan.[iv]
Topic:
Human Rights, International Organization, Islam, Law, and Women
Political Geography:
Global Focus

29. The WPS Index and the Gender-Climate-Security Nexus

Author:
Elena Ortiz and Marisa O. Ensor
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS)
Abstract:
The impacts of climate change, conflict, and gender inequality are increasingly intertwined. While there is a growing body of evidence recognizing that environmental and humanitarian crises disproportionately affect women and acknowledging the vital need to meaningfully include women’s voices in prevention and response efforts, research on the relationship between women’s status broadly and countries’ resilience to the impacts of climate change is lacking. To address this gap, we investigated the relationship between women’s status— as measured by the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index—and countries’ preparedness to mitigate and respond to the impacts of climate change, as captured through three indices of climate resilience. Our results reveal strong and significant relationships, suggesting that countries where women are doing well are also those best prepared to respond to climate change. These findings yield critical policy implications.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Women, and Gender
Political Geography:
Global Focus

30. Research Report: Women’s Meaningful Participation in Post-Conflict: Mechanisms and Challenges in Colombia, Nepal and South Sudan

Author:
Jocelyne Enriquez, Ali Foote, Alani Frace, Pía Madanes Quintanilla, and Siaira Milroy
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP)
Abstract:
The inclusion of women in peace processes and post-conflict governance has been shown to have positive effects on the duration of peace and on social inclusion.1 For instance, women representatives might encourage an increase of resources spent on public services rather than on the military2 and they improve public perceptions of the government which contributes to preventing conflict relapse.3 These conflict-prevention effects are highly desirable, reinforcing the call for the participation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional, and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict. This is reinforced by United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325 and subsequent resolutions on women’s participation in peace processes: SCRs 1889 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), and 2493 (2019). Post-conflict peacebuilding contexts generate opportunities for women advocates to demand the presence of women in decision-making spaces and the wider public sphere,4 which contributes to women’s empowerment.5 Research on the correlation between the end of war and women’s increased political participation further illustrates this point. Tripp’s 2015 research6 on Africa and Berry’s 2018 research7 in Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina have found that conflict resolution in these contexts have had positive effects on women’s political agency.
Topic:
Governance, Women, Participation, Post-Conflict, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Colombia, Nepal, South Sudan, and Global Focus