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by An Essay by Medhya Gupta | Edited by Kiran
Research and Publications Division
‘Game Theory’, ‘the War Theory’ and ‘the Realist Theory,’ have prevailed in the world over longer periods. However, with the introduction of Liberalism in the International sphere, as a counter to Realism, came the ideas of “cooperation”, “peace” and “conflict resolution”. With liberalism, the idea of women’s participation in the geopolitical arena became eminent. Many political theorists, along with the ideology of Feminist International Relations, saw a great hike in female participation in the areas of politics, social society, economy and theory. However, even after such revelations in the field of politics and the public sphere, do you still wonder why the domain of warfare and defence has yet remained relevant only for the male society?
Reading through the lines of history, some philosophers focused on violence as a concept and also as a phenomenon in consonance with power acquisition. While Thomas Hobbes terms the state of nature as the ‘state of war’, Hannah Arendt has indefinitely conceptualised the same as the ‘state of peace’. The idea of peace and cooperation has remained inbuilt in the feminine energy and ideological differentiation as compared to the male ideological running. Hannah Arendt clearly exclaims that power and violence are opposite in nature to each other; where there is violence, there cannot be power, while where there is power, violence cannot be sustained. However, with Charles Tilly’s theory of violence in politics, there can be seen a balance between conflict and peace in terms of war, violence and power.
Conceptualizing Peace Building
From the times of yore, the men have remained in positions of authority throughout their reign. As a matter of fact, the political participation of women is significantly lower in rate as compared to that of men worldwide. Their overall leadership position in the world is very minimal. As per UN Women, until June 1, 2024, there have been only 27 countries where 28 women have been serving as “Heads of State/Government”. The most commonly held positions by women in the Cabinet have stood out to be ‘Ministers of Women and gender equality’, followed by ‘Family and child affairs’, ‘Social inclusion and development’, ‘Social protection and social security’, and ‘Indigenous and minority affairs’. The Defence Ministry, as well as the Home Ministry still stands out to be out of reach of women. These divisions have been carried out with the prevailing patriarchal mindset, that men are epitomes of “hard power” while women of “soft power”.
Research on women, peace and security has been providing strong verifications that empowerment of women and gender equality runs in congruence with stable outcomes and more and better peaceful agreements. The UN Resolution No. 1325 defines the concept of Women, Peace and Security (WPS), which clearly emphasises the importance of women’s role in preventing and maintaining peace and security. However, this does not gain much recognition as the factors of peace have traditionally and conventionally remained patriarchal in nature. Unknowingly, women have contributed significantly during times of war and conflicts worldwide. These can be threaded with the wars in Syria, Sahel region, Colombia, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea, Yemen, Sudan, Seychelles, Myanmar, the Balkans, etc., in terms of “Women Peace and Security Projects”, with the help of the European Union in most cases.
Regarding this, there has also been a formation of ‘ the Peace Constituency’ for Women, Peace and Security, under which 10 UNSC Women Resolutions have been successfully passed. These constituencies have been specifically designated to regulate peacebuilding activities between the two conflicting parties, which does not remain country-specific. Like peacekeeping forces, did you know that there existed “women peacekeeping forces” as well, dwelling in these constituencies? These forces are responsible for “building trust” between the parties suffering from collateral damage as non-combatants; “addressing sensitive issues” like sexual and gender-based violence, “promoting human rights” and protection of civilians; and “encouraging women’s participation” to become an endeavouring and meaningful part of peace and political processes.
Studies indicate that nations with higher levels of gender parity have lower rates of using armed force to settle international disputes and are more likely to settle issues amicably. On the other hand, nations that have larger gender disparities are also more likely to experience intra- and interstate conflict. In contrast to 2019, the UN has invited local women peacebuilders to brief 58% of its peacebuilding commission sessions, and women now make up 43% of the workforce in UN mediation support teams (Facts and Figures; UN Women).
“Peace is not a neglected peace and that which ignores the 50% population of the world.”
Documenting Women-led Peace Building in Numbers
A major chunk of efficiency in women-led peacebuilding as compared to that by men can be viewed in terms of convincing numbers, wherein, it has been verified that agreements resulting from women-led negotiation peace processes are 20% likely to last 2 years, while 35% more likely to last for 15 years (World Bank Blogs). Despite such ravishing and exclamatory numbers, women-led peacebuilding activities have been facing a downfall in world politics. The decline could be viewed, as in 2022, women under the UN represented only 16% of “negotiators” in number in ‘active peace processes’ as compared to 23% in the year 2020 (Council on Foreign Relations).
Women’s participation in major peace processes (1992 to 2019) –
14% as negotiators (2015-2019); and 13% as negotiators (1992-2019)
11% as mediators (2015-2019); and 6% as mediators (1992-2019)
7% as signatories (2015-2019); and 6% as signatories (1992-2019)
As a matter of fact, significant consideration can also be given to the workforce share of women in military and defence services across the globe. Women constitute about 4.8% to 6.5% of the military services, while 10% to 15.8% in the police peacekeeping services. The most evident example that stands out in the eyes of the public, is how India introduced the inclusion of women in the army very recently, while in Israel, it is considered necessary for all citizens to get military training from the age of 18 since its formation in 1948. The variation can connote the divide between the countries of the developed world and the developing world, however, the women's participation in the peacebuilding mechanism is stronger in developing countries at the local level. It, therefore, becomes necessary to bring forth the contribution uplifting from the “local level” to the “international level.”
Analysing Women-led peacekeeping actions worldwide
Focusing on the feminine aspects of “care”, “nurture” and “conflict resolution”, the wars, when handled under the leadership of women, are less likely to escalate into grave conditions of violence and death. The impact of problem-solving and resolution to the aforementioned issues is significantly greater as compared to the notions of winning and conquering. Unlike men, women, during the conflict in Northern Ireland, were termed as ‘Honest Brokers’, aiming to resolve the conflicts at the local level when Sinn Fein was barred from talks. As a matter of fact, G20 summit that took place in India in 2023, we saw ‘Women20’ as one of the components of the summit to be discussed, out of the four components. This comes with the acceptance of women as efficient and eligible negotiators during times of crises worldwide.
Liberia saw the emergence of a secessionist civil war for 10 continuous years. Within these 10 years of grave conditions of death and destruction, a peace resolution was unlikely to be seen. However, at the local level, approximately, hundreds of Christian and Muslim mothers were brought together to bring “brotherhood”, “peace” and “tranquillity” in the Arab World. This action was called at the forefront as there was an assumption that fraternity and connectivity between two communities at the local level might facilitate a peace resolution at the larger level, which it effectively did achieve in the longer run. They organised various strikes and sit-ins in 2003.
The insurgency had levelled up in the state of Nagaland, in India, in 1984, wherein it was observed that “drug trafficking” and “consumption”, in the form of addiction, by the male youth had risen undauntingly within the state. To stop the “drug addiction”, the Indian Army was deployed in the state to fight, against whom many insurgent and violent groups emerged in Nagaland, ultimately disturbing the law and order. The ‘Naga Mothers’ Association’, in 1984, countered the Indian Army against the killing of their sons and drug addiction. In response to this, after years of protests and counterforcing by women, in 1997, a “Peace Treaty” was accorded between the Government of India and the insurgent groups.
In the recent case of the ‘Russia-Ukraine War’, it was noticed that approximately 22% of the Ukrainian women were part of the Ukrainian Army, fighting against the Russian forces, which accounted for an approximate number of 60,000 women. There has been a strategic approach within the European Union as to how to deal with the challenges of “women's security”. Most cases of unrest and civilian disruptions in law and order have stood out in the countries of the Middle East and Africa. To save their lives, “large-scale migration” takes place from these regions into Europe, ultimately resulting in internal conflicts and instability within Europe. However, war and violence have not only stayed limited to these regions. In Myanmar, during the “democratic transition”, women's groups worked to promote the rule of law by documenting and drawing attention to “human rights violations” committed by the military and armed ethnic groups.
In Sri Lanka, the focal point of conflict management and resolution emerged from a more active history of “women peacebuilders”, beginning in the 1980s and 1990s. Women were the pallbearers of peace processes in Sri Lanka. They focused on building a “civil society” that could cut out possible cases of war, conflict and violence, therefore, promoting peace against ethnic violence. With greater regard being given to this contribution, in 2014, women’s collective effort became eminent in need for gender sensitivity, along the lines of which, on average, 10% contribution by women was required.
Does the way forward consist of challenges?
To summarise the ongoing debate, it remains implausible to stand up for women in the form of a positive component of society in its entirety. Would it be a shock for us to know that “all women are not always peaceful”? There have been records of ‘war crimes’ by women in Serbia, Rwanda and Uganda. Women cannot always be idolised as “pristine” and “pure individuals” always, falsifying statements of genocide and mass murders committed by them. Biljana Plavsic, the former president of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska was convicted of committing genocide against non-Serbs on — “political”, “ethnic” and “religious” grounds, serving 11 years of prison sentence. However, this does not sideline the fact that women have been considered as weaker targets during times of crisis; becoming rape victims in most cases. In Afghanistan, at least 25% of the women seeking asylum and refuge have been “single women” – as a cause to either committing crimes against men for self-defence, or their husbands being killed during the war period.
In this context, serving peace on a plate comes with the cooking of resolution and peace management. This can be prevailed with the ‘Non-Violence’ ideation given by Gandhi, as peacebuilding requires “plurality” and the “Gandhian idea of trusteeship” to be accommodated altogether. However, this does not entail much in the practical realm as most women-led peace processes, in security and peace, do not gain prominence, strength and cognisance due to insufficient and non-specific financing — mostly evident in the countries of the European Union. The biased and patriarchal reverberation into this domain reduces the chances of impact-driven and awareness-driven approaches that could be led by women in the realm of war and violence.
The great majority of peace accords signed after 1990 have neglected to acknowledge the experiences of fighting or the post-conflict contributions of half of the nations involved. There is a greater need for a ‘Feminist Foreign Policy’ which could healthily seek out a balance between the male authority and the female authority, while also providing leadership roles to women in the international arena. This necessitates its rollout as there is a significant degree of difference between women in peace-building at the “ground level” and the “policy-making level”. An increasing corpus of studies and case studies of recent and historical peace processes demonstrate how women's involvement, whether through grassroots initiatives or official negotiating roles, aids in the negotiation of long-lasting peace agreements.
References
‘Women Building Peace: From the Local to the International’, seminar by The Delegation of the European Union to India and Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP).
“Facts and figures: Women’s leadership and political participation.” UN Women, 2024. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures.
“Women’s Participation in Peace Processes.” Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/womens-participation-in-peace-processes/.
Crespo-Sancho, Catalina. “Can gender equality prevent violent conflicts?” World Bank Blogs, 8 March 2018. https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/dev4peace/can-gender-equality-prevent-violent-conflict.
O’Reilly, M., Paffenholz, T., & Súilleabháin, A., “Reimagining Peacemaking: Women’s Role in Peace Processes.” International Peace Institute, June 2015. https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IPI-E-pub-Reimagining-Peacemaking-rev.pdf.
“Liberia case study.” Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/womens-participation-in-peace-processes/liberia.
The article strongly underlines the extremely critical role a woman plays in conflict prevention and solving, going in with pointed examples from Liberia to Ukraine. It is rather refreshing to have on board the appreciation of grassroots efforts along with the need for women at top-level decision-making. The "Feminist Foreign Policy" is indeed self-consistent; already high time societies use the unique strengths in women bring to peace processes. Kudos to the author for such an insightful and highly needed advocacy concerning the actual implementation of gender-inclusive conflict management.
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