We have often heard Hobbes' phrase: "man is a wolf to man", meaning that threat and war characterize the heart of our humanity. But what about women? Is war only a "man's business"? Are they only destined to be victims of wars without having their names inscribed on monuments? How are women's rights and sustainable peace linked? We talk about it!

 

War, a man's business? 

The Crusades, the conquests, the Cold War, the conflict in Ukraine or the Middle East... The list of past and present wars is long, and historical analysis through the lens of gender reveals that these conflicts have almost always been led by men, from initiation to resolution to memory.

This can be explained first of all by a history of monopoly of human power in the political, economic and religious spheres, at the heart of the motives for waging war.

We must also question the "myths of virility" with Olivia Gazalé : when women "lose" blood in private, men "shed" their blood for the homeland, the philosopher tells us, among other examples of the double standard that will position men as active fighters and women in passive positions.

Yet, women are part of the war, and historians have highlighted the important roles they played in the fighting, in the military's logistics services, at the front, in their homes, at the peace negotiating tables, and wherever they are. However, the roles of women as combatants, activists for peace but above all as the first victims of wars, can be made invisible by the effect of mentrification.

 

Women as victims of war

Women are massively represented among the victims of war. This is primarily due to the fact that crises and armed conflicts affect about 90% of the civilian population, and the majority of these victims are women or children.

But in addition to their status as civilians who may be affected by the fighting without going to the front, women are also victims of specific war violence. Their bodies are used as "envelopes" to send a message to the enemy. In times of war, women are victims of violence, forced pregnancy, kidnapping, sexual abuse and slavery. Everywhere in the world and at all times, rape is a weapon of war : "planned by an authority (political, military, governmental, clan, etc.) rape is used strategically to humiliate, weaken, subjugate, drive away, or destroy the other."

This already alarming gender-based violence is accompanied by a system of silencing and invisibilizing the crimes committed, as well as women's voices and journeys. As the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross points out, " what is most appalling is the high number of violations of their rights that are neither documented nor recognized, often perceived as inevitable side effects of war. As a result, these women receive almost no help.

 

Towards UN Resolution 1325

Although often excluded from formal peace negotiations, women have always played a vital role in promoting peace in their communities. However, their visibility is crucial in the fight against the violence of which they are victims. This is why they have mobilized collectively in several countries to demand this recognition.

In 1915, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was created, followed by a long process of mobilization on the part of international civil society (from NGOs to activist women's groups), to make itself heard by the international community. Their fight is twofold: to include women in peace decision-making processes and to adapt measures to combat gender-based violence. It is indeed essential that they be present during peace processes, to give voice to their differentiated experiences. These mobilizations saw their results take effect in the years 1990-2000. In the wake of the Beijing Conference in 1995, which signed the most important international text on women's rights, Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), was adopted by the United Nations Security Council in 2000.

 

This resolution is based on 4 pillars:

• the protection of women,
• the prevention of gender-based violence,
• Women's participation in peace negotiations
• the need for humanitarian support against them during wars.
   

This resolution is seen as a major step forward and is followed by many others that form the United Nations' "women, peace and security" agenda, such as the one that recognizes sexual violence as a tactic of war and a threat to security and stability.

 

What is the real place for women in peace processes?

According to studies conducted between 1995 and 2019, women make up barely 13% of negotiators, 6% of mediators and signatories to the main peace processes. In total, 7 out of 10 peace processes do not include any mediator or female signatory.
 

According to several United Nations reports, the Resolution and its system have several limitations. First, the figures mentioned above show us that the exclusion of women from participation in peace is still relevant. In 2023, among the most recent peace processes, the Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women even noted a total absence of women in Ethiopia, Sudan, Kosovo, Libya and Myanmar.

Secondly, it appears that the concrete results and effects on the ground of women's participation in peace processes still appear to be insufficient, 24 years after the adoption of the Resolution. Indeed, the inclusion of women is often thought of through an approach centered around technical training, while strategic and transformative empowerment, as well as the development of women's skills are lacking, thus preventing the strengthening of their capacity to influence for meaningful participation.
 

Another major obstacle, analysed by the Executive Director of Inclusive Peace, Thania Paffenholz, is that the inclusion of women often takes place in a separate track, which is not integrated into the main decision-making processes. For example, the Women's Advisory Board (WAB) was set up in 2017 to participate in the UN's peace efforts in Syria. It is not, however, seen as a parallel process to explore the possibilities of peace and is not led and guided solely by Syrian women. According to Paffenholz, it "turned out to be a mere 'addition' to an otherwise failing system."
 

Finally, these limitations can be summed up by the insufficiently binding nature of the Resolution. Indeed, adopted within the framework of Chapter 6 of the United Nations, this Resolution has a declaratory value and imposes few obligations on States. Procedures and mechanisms for investigating violence against women, drafting reports and prosecuting cases are therefore not mandatory. According to Camille Boutron, doctor in sociology of gender and conflicts, this situation leads to a lack of recognition of these crimes and prevents their adequate punishment.

 

What levers can be used to accelerate women's participation in peace?

According to the UN Secretary-General at the opening of the twenty-third anniversary of Resolution 1325, a 15% contribution from official development assistance (ODA) countries to the gender equality sector is necessary for real effects in reducing gender inequalities at the international level.
 

For their part, 

studies on "gender and peace" affirm that progress in terms of gender equality can only be achieved through a systemic fight against discrimination, at all levels and scales of public policies, in order to reach mentalities. Gender mainstreaming approaches must therefore be put in place by states, especially in peacetime, in order to encourage the formation of a more egalitarian system and to ensure its robustness in the event of a crisis. 

 

Charlotte Foulon and Marie Donzel, for the EVE webmagazine