• sexual violence crimes need to be excluded from amnesty provisions; and
• states should prosecute persons responsible for such acts.

Not only soldiers but mainly top commands are responsible – those who order to abuse, as a way to offense the enemy, or as an ethnic cleasing. When Rape is systematic, it becomes a war weapon, a crime against humanity.

Bosnian war

Some data on the Bosnian War

The Bosnian war was an international conflict which happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 6th April 1992 Reuters, Chronology – What happened during the war in Bosnia, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL21644464 to 14th December 1995 with the signing of Dayton Peace Accords.http://www.osce.org/item/15850.html It was due to a complex mix of political and religious factors, social crisis, all following the end of the cold war and fall of communism in old Yugoslavia.http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerra_de_Bosnia The conflict caused near 100,000 casualties, and 1,8 millions displaced. A 66% were muslim Bosnians or Bosniaks, and a 25% Serbia and Montenegro . However, 83% of civilian casualties were Bosniaks, a 30% of them women and children.Research and Documentation Center in Sarajevo, http://www.idc.org.ba/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=35&Itemid=126&lang=bs

Ethnic causes

Serbs had shared friendship and celebrations with Muslim friends and neighbours. When Yugoslavia disappeared, they started shooting at and torturing them, burning their houses, raping women. In 2005, The United States Congress stated that “the Serbian policies of aggresion and ethnic cleansing meet the terms defining genocide.”The Library of Congress, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SE00134:@@@L&summ2=m&

Serb militias were the main instigators of Bosnian War. Upon Bosnian muslim (Bosniak) people interviewed by the journalist Joe Sacco,Sacco, Joe (2000). Safe Area Goražde, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 1560973927. this wave of hate and violence was instigated by Chetniks, an illegal group with an ideology of fascism and ethnic purity. Serbian paramilitary soldiers were often known and self-identified as Chetniks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chetniks#Yugoslav_Wars: for example, the White Eagles, whose leaders were convicted in July 2009 for burning 119 people alive.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/20/milan-and-sredoje-lukic-b_n_241310.html They were not judged for rape http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/bosnia-and-herzegovina-no-justice-rape-victims-20090721, though one of the victims survived and bore witness to the court http://genocideinvisegrad.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/investigation-visegrad-rape-victimes-say-their-crie-go-unherd/:

“The first time, Milan Lukic raped me in the house. Then he took me down to the garden, where my 16-year old son was. Lukic grabbed him, took him into the house and came out holding a set of knives. “He asked me which one was the sharpest and when I told him, he slaughtered my son with that same knife. ‘Mummy’ was the last word my son said before he died. Then Lukic raped me in the garden again.”

In 15/04/2010, during an official visit in Sarajevo, the Croatian President Ivo Josipovic apologised for these crimes.Euractive: Croatia apologises for Bosnian war crimes.

Rape in the Bosnian War

Rape camps

During the war, rape was already being suspected to be systematic United Nations official document S/25274, http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/25274:

Some of the reported rape and sexual assault cases committed by Serbs, mostly against Muslims, are clearly the result of individual or small group conduct without evidence of command direction or an overall policy. However, many more seem to be a part of an overall pattern whose characteristics include: similarities among practices in non-contiguous geographic areas; simultaneous commission of other international humanitarian law violations; simultaneous military activity; simultaneous activity to displace civilian populations; common elements in the commission of rape, maximizing shame and humiliation to not only the victim, by also the victim’s community; and the timing of the rapes. One factor in particular that leads to this conclusion is the large number of rapes which occurred in places of detention. These rape in detention do not appear to be random, and they indicate at least a policy of encouraging rape supported by the deliberate failure of camp commanders and local authorities to exercise command and control over the personnel under their authority.

Breeches in Geneva’s Law were found and denounced United Nations Commission on Breaches of Geneva Law in Former Yugoslavia http://www.earlham.edu/~pols/ps17971/terneel/bassiouni.html. Serbs created death/rape camps for Bosniaks in Visegrad http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/VIII-08.htm#III.A.85, Omarska http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/nov/03/warcrimes.balkans, Keraterm and Trnopolje http://www.tuzilastvobih.gov.ba/?opcija=predmeti&id=33&jezik=e. Women were retained even in houses. These camps were used to facilitate territorial and political control of a region, and to expel and eliminate ethnic populations from that area. Prisoners were detained, interrogated, tortured, treated as slaves, raped and killed http://www.earlham.edu/~pols/ps17971/terneel/bassiouni.html http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/A/allen_rape.html. Muslim bosnian women, as young as 14, were specifically targeted. A witness said in the court http://www.bim.ba/en/39/10/1776/:

“He told me to take my clothes off. I asked him why and told him that I was 16. He got angry… He took my clothes off and raped me… There was blood all over my body. I noticed that I had cuts on my arms. He told me that it was better for me that he took me than if I were raped by a group of soldiers.”

Rape as an ethnic cleansing weapon

U.N. General Lewis Mackenzie denied that there was a genocide http://www.mail-archive.com/serbian_way@antic.org/msg00008.html:

“…if you’re committing genocide, you don’t let the women go since they are key to perpetuating the very group you are trying to eliminate.”

There were two answers to that statement, both from the ICTY (International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia) http://www.icty.org/x/cases/krstic/acjug/en/krs-aj040419e.pdf:

• Serbs could disguise killing captured men as military operations, while avoided killing women not to attract international censure;
• the offence of genocide does not require proof that the perpetrator chose the most efficient method.

Serbs’ desire was to degrade, humiliate, and impregnate Bosniak women with “little Chetniks” Weitsman P.A. (2008). “The Politics of Identity and Sexual Violence: A Review of Bosnia and Rwanda”. Human Rights Quarterly 30: 561–578. doi:10.1353/hrq.0.0024 E-ISSN: 1085-794X Print ISSN: 0275-0392. Women were forced to go until their 7th month with their pregnancy, avoiding any possibility of abortion.

One case had a Serb soldier telling a Bosnian woman he was raping“Seventh Report on War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia: Part II”. US submission of information to the United Nations Security Council. 1993. http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/documents/sdrpt7b.htm:

“You should have already left this town. We’ll make you have Serbian babies who will be Christians.”

Women had deep and long-term psychological problems after being raped. Loncar, M.; V. Medved, N. Jovanovic and L. Hotujac (2006). “Psychological consequences of rape on women in 1991-1995 war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina”. Croatian Medical Journal 47 (1): 67–75. ISSN 0353-9504. PMID 16489699. PMC 2080379. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2080379

The women knew the rapes would begin when ‘Mars na Drinu’ was played over the loudspeaker of the main mosque. (‘Mars na Drinu,’ or ‘March on the Drina’, is reportedly a former Chetnik fighting song that was banned during the Tito years.) While ‘Mars na Drinu’ was playing, the women were ordered to strip and soldiers entered the homes taking the ones they wanted. The age of women taken ranged from 12 to 60. Frequently the soldiers would seek out mother and daughter combinations. Many of the women were severely beaten during the rapes. “Seventh Report on War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia: Part II”. US submission of information to the United Nations Security Council. 1993. http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/documents/sdrpt7b.htm

Many of these women remain traumatised, cast out from their communities, rejected by their husbands and families, and often ending up stigmatised and impoverished. Some had the additional humiliation of being raped in front of their parents or small children. Those who became pregnant either abandoned their babies or had them adopted. Some decided to keep them, a constant reminder of their shame. This has been showed in several films, as “The secret life of words” (2005, Isabel Coixet) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430576/.

Grbavica is another film about the life of a single mother in contemporary Sarajevo. The director, Jasmila Zbanic, got a Golden Bear award in Berlin http://www.rte.ie/arts/2006/0220/berlinfilmfestival.html. She made the movie after interviewing hundreds of women, many of whom had hidden a story like the one in the film. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/film-award-forces-serbs-to-face-spectre-of-bosnias-rape-babies-526028.html

Gendercide or Gender Genocide

Gendercide was a term invented in 1985 by Mary Ann Warren in her book Gendercide: The implications of Sex Selection Mary Anne Warren, Gendercide: The Implications of Sex Selection (Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allanheld, 1985) ISBN/ISSN: 0847673308.

The Oxford American Dictionary defines genocide as “the deliberate extermination of a race of people.” By analogy, gendercide would be the deliberate extermination of persons of a particular sex (or gender). Other terms, such as “gynocide” and “femicide,” have been used to refer to the wrongful killing of girls and women. But “gendercide” is a sex-neutral term, in that the victims may be either male or female. There is a need for such a sex-neutral term, since sexually discriminatory killing is just as wrong when the victims happen to be male. The term also calls attention to the fact that gender roles have often had lethal consequences, and that these are in important respects analogous to the lethal consequences of racial, religious, and class prejudice.

Apart from the Bosnian gendercide, other examples would be the witch-hunt signed by the Pope in 1484, burning widows in India (Sati) and of course the Female genital cutting.

Adam Jones, a US-based political scientist, has written extensively about gendercide and argues that there are also many examples of gender-selective mass killings that have targeted men. Many of these examples are recorded on this website.

References

Table of Contents

• 1 Who is a Child Soldier?
• 2 The Issue
• 3 References
• 4 See also
• 5 External links
• 6 Further reading

Who is a Child Soldier?

The Cape Town Principles define a child soldier as any person under 18 years who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force in any capacity. This encompasses but is not limited to cooks, porters, messengers and anyone accompanying such groups other than family members. The definition also includes girls recruited for sexual purposes and for forced marriage. It does not, therefore, only refer to a child who is carrying or has carried arms. Application of this broad definition is important: possession of a weapon is not a prerequisite for a child soldier to benefit from the demobilization and reintegration process.Cape Town Principles and Best Practices on the Recruitment of Children into the Armed Forces and on Demobilization and Social Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Africa. Cape Town, 27-30 April 1997.

The Issue

The issue of girl child soldiers has somehow not been given the attention it deserves, in spite of the fact that the Beijing Declaration recognised the effects of armed conflict on women and girl children as a critical area of concern, and the Platform of Action included specific objectives for their protection and participation.

Reports by organisations such as those by Save the Children and Rights and Democracy suggest that among the 300,000 children under the age of 18 who today are fighting in armed conflicts in more than thirty countries of the world, about 40% are girls.

The Save the Children report says improvements need to be made in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR). It says often the post-conflict programs do not address the needs of girls and concentrate more on the number of weapons turned in. The Rights and Democracy report says that girls have been part of government militia or opposition fighting forces in more than 50 countries over recent years.

The use of children as soldiers has become a common feature of armed conflicts in every region of the world. In case studies from El Salvador , Ethiopia , and Uganda , it was found that reportedly a third of child soldiers were girls. While girl soldiers are most commonly used by armed opposition groups, in many places they are also recruited – voluntarily or forcibly – into government armed forces.

Not all children end up in the front line – many are used as spies and porters, as ‘safe’ carriers for bombs and even sexual slaves. Their involvement puts other children at risk as everyone becomes an object of suspicion and a potential target. Many suffer physical abuse and other privations – in extreme cases, child soldiers are driven to suicide or murder when they cannot bear the mistreatment any longer.

While child soldiers are often forcibly recruited, often it is poverty, propaganda and alienation that drives them into armies, paramilitaries and militias. Many join armed groups because they have experienced abuses against their families and communities by the state security forces. Research has shown that the overwhelming majority in almost every armed conflict are drawn from the poorest, least educated and most marginalized sections of society. Those separated from their families or with disrupted family backgrounds, particularly among refugees and the displaced, are especially at risk. The same factors that make girls vulnerable to other forms of child abuse and exploitation also lead them into child soldiering – hence the need for common strategies for prevention and protection.

On 26 January 2009, the International Criminal Court International Criminal Court (ICC) and Gender opened its first trial in the case of The Prosecutor vs. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga was the first person charged in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) situation as well as the Court’s first detainee. He is accused of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of fifteen and using them to participate actively in hostilities. To follow the trial through the eyes of Congolese civil society, the Coalition for the ICC (CICC) has launched a blog on the trial (see www.iccnow.org/blog).

References

See also

• Because I am a Girl: In the shadow of war 2008
• Violence against women
• Gender violence
• Women, Peace and Security

External links

• BBC News (2004), “Use of girl soldiers condemned”
• University of Essex Coalition to stop the use of Child Soldiers (n.d.) “GIRLS WITH GUNS : AN AGENDA ON CHILD SOLDIERS FOR “BEIJING PLUS FIVE””
• Coalition for the International Criminal Court
• Girl Child Soldiers- The Other Face of Sexual Exploitation & Gender Violence: Journal of the USAFA
• Former Girl Child Soldier Speaks Out: UNICEF
• The Suffering of the Girl Soldier: UN

Further reading

• Role of Education & the Demobilization of Child Soldiers: USAID

Physics

• 1903 – Marie Curie
• 1963 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer

Chemistry

• 1911 – Marie Curie

• 1935 – Irène Joliot-Curie

• 1964 – Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

• 2009 – Ada E. Yonath

Physiology or Medicine

• 1947 – Gerty Cori

• 1977 – Rosalyn Yalow

• 1983 – Barbara McClintock

• 1986 – Rita Levi-Montalcini

• 1988 – Gertrude B. Elion

• 1995 – Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard

• 2004 – Linda B. Buck

• 2008 – Françoise Barré-Sinoussi

• 2009 – Elizabeth H. Blackburn

• 2009 – Carol W. Greider
• 2014 – May Britt-Moser

Literature

• 1909 – Selma Lagerlöf

• 1926 – Grazia Deledda

• 1928 – Sigrid Undset

• 1938 – Pearl Buck

• 1945 – Gabriela Mistral

• 1966 – Nelly Sachs

• 1991 – Nadine Gordimer

• 1993 – Toni Morrison

• 1996 – Wislawa Szymborska

• 2004 – Elfriede Jelinek

• 2007 – Doris Lessing

• 2009 – Herta Müller

• 2013 – Alice Munro

Peace

• 1905 – Bertha von Suttner
• 1931 – Jane Addams
• 1946 – Emily Greene Balch
• 1976 – Mairead Corrigan
• 1976 – Betty Williams
• 1979 – Mother Teresa
• 1982 – Alva Myrdal
• 1991 – Aung San Suu Kyi
• 1992 – Rigoberta Menchú Tum
• 1997 – Jody Williams
• 2003 – Shirin Ebadi
• 2004 – Wangari Maathai
• 2011 – Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf , Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol KarmanNY Times, Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Three Activist Women, 7 October 2011
• 2014 – Malala Yousafzai

Economic Sciences

• 2009 – Elinor Ostrom

Missing Female Nobel Prize Laureates

• 1944 – Lise Meitner Chemistry
• 2010 – No Female Prize Laureate

See also

• Women in Science
• Rosalind Franklin
• Female Magsaysay Award Winners

References

External Links and videos

Table of Contents

1. Why does gender matter?
   1. Gender vs. sex
   2. Gender formed by culture
   3. Gender, the environment, and gender mainstreaming
   4. Cultural gender norms and water
2. Effect of climate change on women and water
   1. Precipitation pattern changes
   2. Sea level rise
   3. Desertification
   4. Glacier melt
3. See also

Why does gender matter?

Gender vs. sex

Gender and sex connote two different characteristics that can be used to describe individuals. “Sex” refers to biological, physiological structures that differentiate males and females; this terms describes chromosomes, organs, and hormones. “Gender,” on the other hand, refers to the culturally conceived differences between people based on their sex. When discussing femininity and masculinity, womanly or manly characteristics, one refers to gender, not sex. Sex has very little variation; gender, between cultures, can vary widely in what it means (Kimmel 2013). Jennifer Fluri defined gender in relation to how it manifests on one’s body based on one’s biological sex definition: “Gender is an expression of the social roles, norms, and expectations that are mapped onto one’s biological body…[but] differences between women and men are not firmly dichotomous” (Oberhauser et al. 2017, 26). Kimmel also argues that there is a power-relations dynamic inherent in current conceptualizations of gender, and these power relations place men as in power above women, and often above other men (Kimmel 2013).

Gender formed by culture

Gender, by definition, is constructed based on cultural understandings and expectations of how men and women should behave. These behaviors become entrenched in individuals due to the influence of culture on daily lives, and the acceptance of gendered norms of behavior are reinforced through performance, or acting in accordance with mainstreamed expectations of one’s gender. Under the concept of performativity, gender becomes the act doing behaviors associated with a particular sex based on cultural norms, and repetition of this performativity results in gender roles becoming normalized social behaviors. Because gender reflects culture, gender norms can shift over time as society and cultures change (Oberhauser et al. 2017).

Acts of performativity of gender both result from and reinforce dominant social and political concepts of gendered behaviors. Those who do not perform gender according to dominant gender concepts engage in code-switching. These concepts include how different people experience access to natural resources, space, and place. Feminist geographers recognize that gender roles and norms can include differences in how different genders have different experiences and associations with certain spaces and places: “places…are perceived and experienced differently by different groups of people” based on gender, race, class, and other forms of labels and categories. Patriarchal and heterosexual norms can mean that public places and private spaces can hold entrenched expectations of behavior based on gender and identity which can disadvantage people who enter those spaces while also not conforming to these expectations and norms. Gender can further inform how different groups of people move through such spaces, in a concept called mobility, both in terms of large-scale movements of large groups but also including movement in the patterns of everyday life and responsibilities (Oberhauser et al. 2017).

Gender, the environment, and gender mainstreaming

Feminist political ecology (FPE) seeks to question and inform understanding regarding how gender, and other social labels and classifiers, influence how people relate to and interact with the natural environment. In particular, FPE examines how gender roles and power relations influence divisions of labor along gender lines in sectors closely tied to the environment, such as agriculture and subsistence farming, population studies, and family health. FPE research and literature views human-environmental relations as heavily influenced by gender, power relations, and divisions of labor (Oberhauser et al. 2017). Recognizing this branch of scholarship and connections between gender roles and natural resource use, development-focused organizations often attempt integrate gender equality goals into development and sustainability projects by paying increased attention to women’s roles in community engagement with the environment (Ivens 2008). Gender becomes integrated into these environmentally-focused and development-oriented policies, projects, and programs through gender mainstreaming, which further encourages the convergence of women’s issues and gender equality with natural resource protection and development projects (Dankelman 2010).

Cultural gender roles and water

Beginning in the 19th century, water management, access, and technology was considered a masculine domain. In contrast to this culturalized dimension of masculine technological control, water gathering and supply to family units remains primarily a woman’s task in most regions of the world where water gathering is a main chore. This water work is also largely unpaid household work based on patriarchal gender norms dictating that women are the main actors responsible for most tasks involving water, such as laundry, cooking, and child care (Bennet, Davila-Poblete, Rico 2008). Gender norms can negatively affect how men and women access water through such behavior expectations along gender lines–for example, when water collection is a woman’s chore, men who collect water may face discrimination for code-switching and performing perceived women’s work (CAP-NET and GWA 2006). On the other hand, the same norms often result in women being pressured to collect and use water in an efficient and timely manner, without the advantages of modern technology (Krishnaraj 2011).

Effect of climate change on gender and water

The warming of the earth’s climate has had many adverse effects on societies all over the world. In many areas, people suffer from drought, flooding due to sea level rise, and other threats to their food and water stability and accessibility. It has been noted that gendered vulnerabilities that may already be present in some societies have been amplified due to the threats posed by climate change. Disparities between gendered roles in the household and who holds a family’s assets become even more drastic when a family unit is faced with competition for essential resources like water (Eastin 2018). Additionally, gendered accessibility to disaster relief and resources allows for marginalized groups to be disproportionately affected by climate change related disasters (Knight et al 2012). These are all factors that need to be addressed through a combination of empathy, policy, ethics, and action as a greater number of marginalized groups are being affected and displaced by the effects of climate change.

Precipitation pattern changes

In the past ten years, the Brazilian Amazon has already faced some of the most disastrous droughts and floods due to changes in precipitation attributed to climate change. Other climate changes in this area have been noted such as an increase in the dry season length, increased river discharge, overall reduced precipitation and temperature increase projections (Menezes et al 2018). Areas of Northern Brazil were studied to determine the vulnerability of the people that live here and determine the factors that influence their vulnerability (Menezes et al 2018). This study focused on the systems in place to address future hydrometeorological climate change disasters as well as socioeconomic conditions already present.

People that live in highly impoverished were found to be more vulnerable to the effects of climate change (Menezes et al 2018). As found in another study, it is common that societies with less access to resources due to poverty tend to reinforce gendered societal structures because of low socioeconomic mobility of women (Eastin 2018). Those already in power in societies unequally impacted by climate change receive the majority of available resources while those already in poverty continue to be discriminated against and given very little to survive.

Sea level rise

Sea level rise may be one of the most impactful side effects of climate change and will influence the lives of countless people. As habitable area like coastal and low lying areas become inundated with ocean water, the percentage of the population that is affected by this sea level increase will also rise (McAdam et al 2016). There has been widespread disruption to global water resources as a result of increased ocean transgression and loss of freshwater sources. Over half a billion people live in low elevation areas that will be affected by sea level rise and the influences it may have on agriculture, freshwater availability, and habitable spaces (McAdam et al 2016).

The right to water is not explicitly stated in the United Nations’ International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) report, which although implicitly stated, may become problematic as people affected by sea level rise may need to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere (McAdams et al 2016). Disaster relief has been and continues to be gendered, and leaves room for discrimination and allows marginalized groups to be disproportionately affected by natural hazards (Knight et al 2012). As has also been seen before, when resource availability decreases, marginalization increases, and already structured societal discrimination is reinforced (Eastin 2018). The gendering of resources available to those affected by sea level rise and other natural disasters caused by climate change is a jarring reality of current social systems around the world.

Desertification

In Africa, women are responsible for nearly 80 percent of agriculture and water collection, and yet they remain in poverty (Zoloth 2017). As farms become infertile and water tables run dry from desertification, families are forced to move their homes and find refuge elsewhere. Particularly in areas that rely heavily on agriculture, desertification results in a widespread loss of fertile land and ultimately adds to gendered vulnerability by reinforcing previously established gendered roles (Eastin 2018). When food is unavailable in a community due to desertification, women have reduced bargaining power, and are less likely to obtain independent socioeconomic status and are more reliant on the systems that discriminate against them (Eastin 2018). A lack of water means women in these areas of the world means it is more difficult for women to safely carry a pregnancy to term, give birth, nurse their children while maintaining self hygiene by washing and caring for themselves and their infants (Zoloth 2017). The large disparity between overconsumption of rich countries and the lack of access to basic resources in the poorest areas of the world needs to be addressed through a combination of ethics, policy, and action. Doing so will increase resource accessibility which will then indirectly lessen the reliance on gendered societal structures and allow women to have more mobility and bargaining power within political and societal systems.

Glacier melt

The majority of the world’s glaciers are being adversely affected by climate changes and have been retreating due to the global increase in temperature. The mountain glaciers found in the high altitudes of the Andes are not exempt from this general trend. The large scale retreat of the Andean glaciers, although temporarily providing extra water supply to groups of people downstream of the meltwater during the dry season, there is a long term threat to dry season river discharge (Vuille et al 2018). The fresh meltwater from the glacier is used for agriculture and drinking water in Peru and many other highly populated areas downstream of the retreating Andean glaciers.

Additionally, in Peruvian culture, there are strong connections between masculinity and power over water, and ultimately, a decrease in water availability will lead to further discrimination and a gendered power imbalance for water (Delgado and Zwarteveen 2007). Much like the incidents in previous case studies, in the face of a lack of resources, societies rely upon the patriarchal structures in which creates a greater gendered imbalance. Those who began in power continue to receive the majority for the resources while those in poverty and with little independence or social freedom continue to suffer must rely upon the system (Eastin 2018).

See also

Bennet, Vivienne, Davila-Poblete, Sonia, and Maria N. Rico. 2008. Water and gender: the unexpected connection that really matters. Journal of International Affairs 61(2): 107-126.

CAP-NET and GWA. 2006. Why Gender Matters: a tutorial for water managers. Multimedia CD and booklet. CAP-NET International network for Capacity Building in Integrated Water Resources Management, Delft.

Dankelman, Irene. 2010. Gender and Climate Change: An Introduction. New York: Taylor and Francis.

Delgado, Juana Vera, and Margreet Zwarteveen. 2007. “The Public and Private Domain of the Everyday Politics of Water: The Constructions of Gender and Water Power in the Andes of Perú.” International Feminist Journal Of Politics 9(4): 503.

Eastin, Joshua. 2018. Climate change and gender equality in developing states. World Development 107: 289-305.

Ivens, Saskia. 2008. Does increased water access empower women? Development 51: 63-67.

Kimmel, Michael. 2013. The Gendered Society. 5th Ed., New York: Oxford University Press

Knight, Kyle. Gaillard,JC, Sanz, Kristinne. 2012. Gendering the MDGS Beyond 2015: Understanding Needs and Capacities of LGBTI Persons in Disasters and Emergencies. Global Thematic Consultation.

Krishnaraj, Maithreyi. 2011. Women and water: Issues of gender, caste, class and institutions. Economic and Political Weekly 46(18): 37-39.

McAdams, Jane, Burson, Bruce, Walter, Kalun, & Weerasinghe, Sanjula. 2016. International Law and Sea-Level Rise: Forced Migration and Human Rights. FNI Reports, (1), 1.

Menezes, J., Confalonieri, U., Madureira, A., Duval, I., Santos, R., Margonari, C. 2018. Mapping human vulnerability to climate change in the Brazilian Amazon: The construction of a municipal vulnerability index. Plos ONE  13(2):1-30.

Oberhauser, Ann M., Fluri, Jennifer L., Whitson, Risa, and Mollett, Sharlene. 2017. Feminist Spaces: Gender and Geography in a Global Context. Florence: Taylor and Francis.

Vuille, Mathias, Carey, Mark, Huggel, Christian, Buytaert, Wouter, Rabatel, Antoine, Jacobsen, Dean, Soruco, Alvaro, Villacis, Marcos, Yarleque, Christian, Elison Timm, Oliver, Condom, Thomas, Salzmann, Nadine, & Sicart, Jean-Emmanual, 2018. ‘Invited review: Rapid decline of snow and ice in the tropical Andes – Impacts, uncertainties and challenges ahead’, Earth-Science Reviews, vol. 176, pp. 195-213.

Zoloth, Laurie. 2017. At the Last Well on Earth: Climate Change is a Feminist Issue. ProjectMUSE 2:139.

In 2015, at our International Conference and by connecting, strengthening and celebrating the work of all women peacemakers across the world, WILPF will once again be as progressive in our security analysis and aim to establish new and radical approaches on how to stop and prevent wars and establish principles of permanent peace.

More information

• Urges for the participation of women in peace processes, particularly in conflict resolution, post-conflict planing and peacebuilding.
• Emphasizes the responsibility of States to protect women and girls in armed conflict, including from sexual violence, and to prosecute perpetrators of violence.
• Calls for the inclusions of provisions related to gender equality and women’s empowerment when renewing the mandates of United Nations missions.
• Requests that all country reports to the Security Council include information on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, and their needs in post-conflict situations.
• Encourages States to design strategies to address the needs of women and girls during post-conflict situations, including access to education, socio-economic conditions, and gender equality.
• Calls for the protection of women and girls in refugee camps and secure humanitarian access.
• Requests the Secretary-General to submit a set of indicators to track the implementation of resolution 1325.

Download and read the resolution here.

See also

Women, Peace and Security

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1888

Women and peace organisations

• Calls for the appointment of a Special Representative to provide leadership and coordination to the United Nations efforts’ in addressing sexual violence in armed conflict.
• Urges legal and judicial reforms by States to end impunity of sexual violence during conflict and bring about justice to victims.
• Discusses the inclusion of acts of rape and sexual violence as designated sanctions.
• Requires peacekeeping mandates to include provisions on the prevention and response to sexual violence, as well as provisions on the protection of women and children led by women’s protection advisers.
• Invites local and national leaders to sensitize communities on sexual violence in order to avoid stigmatization of victims and assist with their reintegration in society.
• Urges the inclusion of issues related to sexual violence in areas of pre-ceasefires, human rights agreements, and DDR.
• Requests early-warning indicators of the use of sexual violence.

References

• Resolution 1888. 30 September 2009. S/RES/1888
• UNIFEM. UN Security Council Resolution 1888

See also

• Women, Peace and Security
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1889
• Women and peace organisations

External links

• 1888: stepping beyond rhetoric

SCR 1820 recognizes that sexual violence can impede international peace and security, and therefore requires a security response to protect girls and women from sexual violence during armed conflict. For the first time, sexual violence is not discussed as an inevitable feature of conflict, but as unacceptable and preventable. The resolution covers key elements:

1. Recognizes sexual violence as a tactic of war, allowing the intervention of the Security Council, and excluding sexual violence crimes from amnesty provisions
2. Recognizes that sexual violence may be categorized as a war crime, crime against humanity, and act of genocide
3. Demands protection and prevention measures from parties of armed conflict
4. Demands appropriate mechanisms to provide protection from violence in refugee and displaced person camps.
5. Reaffirms the need for women’s full and equal participation in peace-building processes.
6. Reaffirms commitment to SCR 1325.

The Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of the resolution was released in August 2009. The report is confined to the Council’s agenda, and therefore only discusses sexual violence against civilians during and in the aftermath of armed conflicts even though sexual violence also takes place before the start of an armed conflict. The report demonstrates the numerous challenges faced by the community in implementing SCR 1820 and contains promising recommendations.

References

• 1820 full text
• Overview of SCR 1820- UNIFEM and UN Action
• Report of the Secretary-General pursuant to Security Council resolution 1820. August 2009. S/2009/362
• SC Resolution 1820: Reviewing Initial Progress- PeaceWomen

See also

• Women, Peace and Security
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1888
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1889

About

UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict (UN Action) unites the work of 12 UN entities with the goal of ending sexual violence in conflict. It is a concerted effort by the UN system to improve coordination and accountability, amplify programming and advocacy, and support national efforts to prevent sexual violence and respond effectively to the needs of survivors.

UN Action member entities

• DPA – UN Department of Political Affairs
• DPKO – UN Dep. of Peacekeeping Operations
• OCHA – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
• OHCHR – UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
• UNAIDS – Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS
• UNDP – UN Development Programme
• UNFPA – UN Population Fund
• UNHCR – UN High Commissioner for Refugees
• UNICEF – UN Children’s Fund
• UNIFEM – UN Development Fund for Woman
• WFP –UN World Food Programme
• WHO – UN World Health

Resolution 1820: Women, Peace, and Security

On 19 June 2008, the United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed that sexual violence “when used or commissioned as a tactic of war in order to deliberately target civilians or as a part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilian populations,can significantly exacerbate situations of armed conflict and may impede the restoration of international peace and security,” affirming that “effective steps to prevent and respond to such acts… can significantly contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security”.

Objectives

• Country Level Action: support joint strategy development and programming by UN Country Teams and Peacekeeping Operations, including building operational and technical capacity.
• Advocating for Action: action to raise public awareness and generate political will to address sexual violence as part of a broader campaign to Stop Rape Now.
• Learning by Doing: creating a knowledge hub on the scale of sexual violence in conflict, and effective responses by the UN and partners.

Cross It

The crossed-arm gesture is being used by the Stop Rape Now campaign,  to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence.

The campaign raises awareness about conflict-related sexual violence and invites everybody to get involved and becoming a fan of Security Council Resolution 1820.

The objective is to tell the UN Security Council and governments around the globe that conflict-related sexual violence must and can stop. The campaigns aim is to tell the world leaders that survivors must be able to seek justice, perpetrators must be prosecuted, and that peacekeeping troops, police, and civilian personnel must be trained to prevent sexual violence, and protect and empower women and girls.

Testimonies

“We Congolese women, we are doing what we can to help each other. Women here have long felt neglected-but we hope this feeling will one day be over.”(Testimony of a Congolese woman)– Stephanie Hanes, “Life After Rape in Congo”, Christian Science Monitor, April 25, 2007

“A woman would never go to report a rape to the HNP [Haitian National Police],” said a Haitian woman, “she is likely to be raped by them again.” — Refugees International “RI Bulletin: Haiti: UN Civilian Police Require Executive Authority” (March 14, 2005)

“After my relative declined to give me a job at his shop, I went to a labour market where two men hired me for construction work for 50 Afghani (US $1) a day. They took me into an empty house where they both forcefully had sex with me.”–(statement of 12-year-old boy)-IRIN, “Afghanistan: War, Poverty, and Ignorance fuel sexual abuse of children” (02 June 2007)

See also

• Women, Peace and Security
• Women and peace organisations
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1888
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1889

Links

• Stop-rape-now website
• Facebook page
•  List of NGOs addressing the issue of sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations
• AIDS, Security & Conflict Research Hub
• Peace Women, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom

Table of Contents

• 1 History
• 2 Presence of Women in Negotiations
• 3 The International Women’s Commission (IWC) and Resolution 1325
• 4 Potential and Pitfalls
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 External links

History

The mobilisation of women in the Israel-Palestinian peace process really began during the 1980s. The Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 provoked movements among Jewish women opposing the conflict. Moreover, the first intifada in 1987 saw the formation of Jewish women’s organisations such as Women in Black, Israeli Women Against Occupation and Women’s Peace Net. Palestinian women’s organisations, which until then focussed on the needs of the Palestinian community regarding education and social services, began to work together with Israeli Jewish women in order to bring an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 1989, Israeli and Palestinian women met in Brussels and evoked:

• the importance of the resolution of the conflict through negotiations
• Israel’s recognition of Palestinian representatives and,
• a mutual recognition of peace.

These women thus called for a two-state solution to the conflict before any official representative of Israel , Gender Equality in the Occupied Palestinian Territories or the Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in the United States of America of America of America.Sela & Ma’oz eds, 1997, The PLO and Israel: From Armed Conflict to Political Solution, New York, St Martin’s Press, p.215 Many grassroots initiatives have been created to build trust, cooperation and understanding between Jewish women in Israel and Palestinian women in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These involved visits, dialogue activities, local and international conferences, collaboration and demonstrations. Women’s organisations have continued to work together, trying to alleviate social, economic and political problems suffered by both sides. Mother’s and parents’ movements have also played an important role in mobilising support for peace.

Presence of Women in Negotiations

Very few women have managed to officially involve themselves in the peace negotiation process. The negotiating team for the Palestinian Territories included several women at the Madrid Peace Conference and following talks in Washington in 1991. Their participation in the process has since then decreased and the delegation no longer has any women at the highest levels Article “Include Women to Move the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Forward”, Middle East Online. With the aim of recognising their important role and including women in the peace process, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced that the Israeli delegation would include a woman.

The International Women’s Commission (IWC) and Resolution 1325

The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, calls for the participation of women in decision-making and peace processes, underlines their role in conflict resolution and peacebuilding and advocates the protection of women’s rights. In 2005, the was formed in order to implement and strengthen resolution 1325. The commission was created by Israeli and Palestinian women and also includes other international women’s leaders such as United Nations Development Fund for Women (United NationsIFEM)’s director Inés Alberdi, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Finnish President Tarja Halonen . Uniting women from both sides of the conflict with other experienced diplomatic and political negotiators, the IWC speaks with one voice for a just and sustainable resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. According to their Charter of political principles, the IWC has the following guiding objectives:

• To ensure the meaningful participation of diverse women, including those from civil society, in any Israeli-Palestinian peace process, including negotiations and supportive initiatives;
• To guarantee gender equality and that women’s perspectives and experiences are incorporated in any future resolution of the conflict;
• To work for an end to the occupation and genuine negotiations towards a just and sustainable peace;
• To promote a process of political dialogue that rectifies ongoing asymmetries and addresses all elements of reconciliation.IWC Charter of Principles

Since its creation, the IWC has met with decision-makers from Israel and Palestine as well as other global actors including members of the Quartet on the Women in the Middle East and North Women and African Economic Development (MENA), the United Nations , the European Union and the United States, to pursue its goals. The commission has succeeded in underlining the critical role of women in their communities, the importance of an inclusive peace process and the need to recognise their participation, protect them from conflict and put an end to their marginalisation. 2010 marked the 10th anniversary of the UN Security Council resolution 1325. Alongside UNIFEM, and with support from the Spanish government, the IWC organised a conference on “Advancing Women’s Leadership for Sustainable Peace in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict and Worldwide”. Bringing together worldwide leaders and experts, the conference worked on establishing action strategies among international leaders, and promoting awareness and gaining support for the work of the IWC.

Potential and Pitfalls

One of the main pitfalls of the IWC focuses on its ability to engage with the Israeli and Palestinian populations on the ground. Critics have pointed out its status as a “high-profiled women’s club” that few Israeli and Palestinian women are actually aware of.Article “Israel and Palestinian Women Together for Peace” The organisation’s main challenge is to disseminate information, promote awareness and fully engage with communities at the grassroots level. Additionally, continuing violence and conflict threatens the potential of the IWC. During the Gaza War 2008-2009, for example, relationships deteriorated as Palestinian women refused to enter into any form of dialogue with their Israeli counterparts. The inclusion of women in the negotiation process also remains minimal despite the fact that both the Palestinian National Authority and the Israel Knesset have approved the demands of Resolution 1325 and the IWC. The continuing work of the IWC has not resulted in full access for women to the process of conflict resolution and peacebuilding in the Middle East. The challenge remains of how to promote the full involvement of women in the peace process and how to increase cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian sides. Israeli and Palestinian women have shown over the years, however, that they have the potential to make a real difference in implementing lasting peace in the region whilst promoting their status and place in society. Research has shown that women, when involved in negotiations, facilitate dialogue amongst partisans and raise key issues sometimes otherwise ignored. The potential they represent in negotiations in order to end a half a century long conflict could therefore be paramount to finding a lasting two-state solution.

See also

• Israel

• Gender Equality in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325

• [Special_Focus : 10th anniversary of UN resolution 1325 on Peace, Women and Security]

• Women, Peace and Security

References

External links

• IWC portal