Rethinking Peacekeeping, Gender Equality and Collective Security (Thinking Gender in Transnational Times)

Part V Conclusions 13 Concluding Remarks: Establishing Common Ground between Feminism and the Military Judith Gardam and Dale Stephens Bibliography Index vii List of Figures 6.1 Answered 'yes' to the question 'Does the SIPF treat people fairly and with respect?' for years 2007-2011 140 6.2 Answers to 'Has the RSIPF improved in the past 5 years?' 142 viii ## Foreword There is a system (there is always a system!), and it is always pretty much reflective of the power structures that it is there to maintain and regulate. The system dictates how things are done; and therein lies the problem as, once the system exists, those who were not included in the first place have to gate-crash and attempt to force change from within and, as all revolutionaries know, working behind the lines is replete with hidden dangers! Which is why this book is so important. The United Nations (UN) is a peace organisation, or it was supposed to be. Its raison d'être is to prevent war and its Charter guarantees equality and dignity for all, but it needed the non-governmental organisation (NGO) gate-crashers of 2000 to force the Security Council to take women seriously in relation to international peace and security. Whatever we may think of the ultimate resolution adopted by the Council and those that have followed, the system's fortifications were breached and women are in! Optimists and many feminists use the word 'potential' a lot, but Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) gave, and gives, astonishing potential for change and the collection of chapters in this book reminds us of the vitality of thought and approach that is needed if that potential is to be realised. Most potently, SCR 1325 needs to be applied to peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Despite the best of intentions (one hopes), incorporating a gender perspective is done badly or not at all because we are still grafting a 'new' concept onto existing modalities which were not created with gender equality in mind; quite the contrary. We have seen, from Bosnia to Haiti and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Kosovo, the ways in which cultures of masculinity undermine SCR 1325 in the most basic of ways. We know too that attempts to address this undercutting -through monitoring processes, applying gendered indicators, introducing results-based assessment and, inevitably, lots of bureaucracy -have impeded meaningful consultations and real participation, and resulted in a failure to secure human rights from a gender perspective. We know too that the age-old (non)solution of just counting women, and saying things are better if there are more, is still alive and well. So, in many peacekeeping scenarios, instead of providing a transition which creates the space for serious analysis of the gendered political economy of violence and its continuum of human rights As editors we would like to thank each of the contributing authors for the part they have played in this project and especially for their patience in responding positively to our feedback and developing their chapters with care and thoughtfulness: learning from the differences in our thinking is precisely what the project of Rethinking Peacekeeping, Gender Equality and Collective Security is about, and we look forward to watching the conversations we have had extend into new projects, scholarship and activism. Thanks also to Secretary-General of the Women' Front Matter....Pages i-xviii Rethinking Peacekeeping, Gender Equality and Collective Security: An Introduction....Pages 1-20 Front Matter....Pages 21-21 The Grip of Sexual Violence: Reading UN Security Council Resolutions on Human Security....Pages 23-47 Participation, Gender and Security....Pages 48-69 Shaming the State: Sexual Offences by UN Military Peacekeepers and the Rhetoric of Zero Tolerance....Pages 70-95 Front Matter....Pages 97-97 The Road to (and from) ‘Recovery’: A Multidisciplinary Feminist Approach to Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding....Pages 99-117 Thinking Globally and Acting Locally: Linking Women, Peace and Security in the Pacific....Pages 118-130 Gender and Transnational Police Reform: Lessons from the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands....Pages 131-153 Front Matter....Pages 155-155 Beyond Stories of Victory and Danger: Resisting Feminism’s Amenability to Serving Security Council Politics....Pages 157-172 Security Council Resolution 1325: A Tool for Conflict Prevention?....Pages 173-184 Increasing Women’s Presence in Peacekeeping Operations: The Rationales and Realities of ‘Gender Balance’....Pages 185-199 Front Matter....Pages 201-201 Systemic Silencing: Addressing Sexual Violence against Men and Boys in Armed Conflict and its Aftermath....Pages 203-223 Security Council Resolution 1325: Age and Gender in Conflict and the Future of Feminist Activism....Pages 224-242 The Political Economy of Gender in UN Peacekeeping....Pages 243-262 Front Matter....Pages 263-263 Concluding Remarks: Establishing Common Ground between Feminism and the Military....Pages 265-279 Back Matter....Pages 280-323 This book examines how the Security Council has approached issues of gender equality since 2000. Written by academics, activists and practitioners the book challenges the reader to consider how women's participation, gender equality, sexual violence and the prevalence of economic disadvantages might be addressed in post-conflict communities. Security Council resolution 1325 was a landmark in collective security, making the link between women's security and international peace and security. This book argues it is time to rethink the way the women, peace and security framework has impacted on peacekeeping, gender equality and collective security, drawing lessons from past practices and re-framing gender perspectives. From the hyper visibility of sexual violence to strategies for 'counting the women', this book considers the limitations of the contemporary women, peace and security agenda. It urges for a renewed structure that returns to the anti-militarist agenda associated with feminist thinking and one that recognises and responds to women's diversity and takes seriously the dangers of pursing peace through the Security Council