WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY: SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS
Civil Society and NGO Reports, Papers and Statements | UN Documents | Government Statements and Reports | Books, Journals and Articles

UNIFEM WOMEN, WAR AND PEACE WEB PORTAL: SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS

Civil Society and NGO Reports, Papers and Statements

The Impact of Small Arms on Women in Central Africa
Marie-Claire Faray, IANSA Women's Network and WILPF DR Congo
July 17, 2008

This is a statement made by Marie-Claire Faray at the Third Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on Small Arms and Light Weapons on July 17, 2008. Faray emphasizes how incidents of domestic violence involving firearms cause as many problems as violence perpetrated in the streets, and their number increases during and after armed conflicts, due to the illegal circulation of these arms in the community. According to Faray, numerous reports and analyses have documented and demonstrated that the illegal trafficking, the availability, and the use of firearms have had a disastrous impact on the lives of women during conflicts which have ravaged the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

To read the full statement, please click here

IANSA Women at the Third Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on Small Arms and Light Weapons
Sarah Masters, Women's Network Coordinator, International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), July 14-18, 2008

To build on progress made since 2001, over 15 members of the IANSA Women’s Network (WN) participated in the Third Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on Small Arms and Light Weapons. The four ‘priority themes’ of the BMS were: Stockpile/management; International cooperation and assistance; Marking and Tracing; and Brokering. Undeterred by the technical focus of the meeting, together WN members developed a position paper and released a statement calling on States to include gender data in their national reports on the PoA, support research, and push for laws to prevent armed domestic violence. WN maintained momentum and raised concerns about armed violence against women and armed domestic violence.

To read IANSA's report on the BMS, please click here

Statement of the IANSA Women's Network to the Third Biennial Meeting of States on Small Arms
IANSA Women's Network, July 2008

To view the statement, please click HERE

1325 and Small Arms
Sarah Masters, Women's Network Coordinator, International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)
Adopted in October 2000, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security states that gender perspectives should be incorporated in all areas of peace support operations, including disarmament. Although small arms are not specifically mentioned in the Resolution, 1325 has been used in relation to small arms issues, including disarmament in post-conflict contexts. Members of the Women’s Network of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) have taken leadership roles in peacebuilding work, violence prevention and education about gun violence, and are using 1325 in their disarmament efforts around the world.

For the full paper, please click HERE

Survivors: Women Affected by Gun Violence Speak Out
International Action Network on Small Arms, June 2006
This compilation contains only a sample of the testimonies that have been contributed to the IANSA Women’s Network. These stories underscore the fact that effective solutions to the global gun crisis will require a new, gender-sensitive approach. We must develop policies that reflect the different ways women and men are affected by and respond to guns. We must also ensure that women are fully involved in small arms policy and practice – including reform and enforcement of national gun laws, conflict resolution, peacebuilding and development.

For the full report, please click HERE

Guidelines for gender mainstreaming for the effective implementation of the UN programme of action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects United Nations Coordinating Action on Small Arms (CASA)
UN Conference to Review Progress made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, 29 June 2006

It is now widely recognized the women and men, when they participate equally in all related activities, have a critical role to play in the elimination of illicit trade in SALW. Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, peace and security, also recognizes the need to take into account the impact of conflict on women and men, including issues related to the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. These guidelines have been developed as a resource for stakeholders to increase the effective implementation of the PoA. They also underscore the human rights-based rationale for the inclusion of gender perspectives in their fight against illicit trade in SALW.

Small Arms Working Group (SAWAG)
Fact Sheet, April 2006

Please click HERE

Information kit on Women and Armed Violence
IANSA Women's Network, March 2006

Please click HERE

Women, Girls and Urban Gun Violence: A Case Study on Rio de Janeiro
Prepared for the Second Biennial Meeting of States on the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms, Men, Women and Gun Violence: Options for Action, 14 July 2005
In situations of declared armed conflict, a concern with the voices, experiences and needs of women and girls has emerged, most notably from the beginning of the 90s. It gained international recognition in 2000, with Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. There are important lessons to be learned from these efforts.

Arms Know No Gender: They Kill Us All
Women in Peacebuilding Program (WIPNET), West Africa, 24 May 2005
For the Women in Peacebuilding (WIPNET) program, gun violence is just another form of violence against women; and violence against women, whether committed with boots or fists or weapons, is rooted in pervasive discrimination which denies women equality with men. It occurs in a variety of contexts and cuts across borders, religions and class. This is not because violence against women is natural or inevitable, but because it has been condoned and tolerated as part of historical or cultural practices for so long.

The Impact of Guns on Women's Lives
Amnesty International, IANSA, Oxfam, part of Control Arms and Stop Violence Against Women campaigns, March 2005
This report provides an overview of where two major international campaigns intersect: Control Arms – organized by Amnesty International (AI), the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and Oxfam International – and AI’s Stop Violence Against Women campaign. There is a growing acknowledgement that issues of gender need to be fully integrated into international work to stop the proliferation and misuse of small arms and that the specifics of armed violence have often been overlooked in some campaigns to address violence against women. Looking at how the myths about men, women, and guns are constructed can reveal new ways to break the cycles of violence which threaten to brutalize succeeding generations in so many societies around the world.

Putting a Human Face to the Problem of Small Arms Proliferation
International Alert, February 2005
This paper examines the relevance of gender for the effective implementation of the 2001 UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA). It provides suggested textual changes for consideration in the process of reviewing the text in 2006. The paper is intended to assist both small arms practitioners who are currently implementing the PoA and practitioners in development and conflict contexts to enhance effectiveness of their work through gender-aware analysis and practices. It is specifically aimed at policy makers (including UN General Assembly 1st committee members) as they discuss new agreements that will complement the current PoA and potentially revise the text in 2006.

Putting Guns in Their Place: A resource pack for two years of action by humanitarian agencies
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, October 2004
This publication provides an overview of areas for action — public health, forced displacement, protection of children, gender rights, taking weapons out of circulation and the safety of relief workers — including questions to include in project design or evaluation. An introduction to the UN Programme of Action on small arms and existing processes and instruments regulating weapons transfers is also offered. To obtain a hard copy of the report, click here.
Remettre les Armes a Leur Place: suggestions pratiques pour deux ans d'action par les agences humanitaires
Centre pour le Dialogue Humanitaire, Genève, Octobre 2004
Las Armas, en Su Sitio: un conjunto de recursos para dos anos de accion por parte de las agencias humanitarias
Centro para el Diálogo Humanitario, octubre de 2004

Shattered Lives: The Case for Tough International Arms Control
Amnesty International and Oxfam, October 2003

Gender Perspectives on Small Arms and Light Weapons: Regional and International Concerns
Vanessa A. Farr, Wendy Cukier, Hon. Zoë Bakoko Bakoru, Jane Sanyu Mpagi, Amani El Jack, Ruth Ojambo Ochieng, Olive C. Kobusingye, Kiflemariam Gebre-Wold, Bonn International Centre for Conversion/Internationales Konversionszentrum Bonn Briefing 24, July 2002

IANSA Women's Statement on the Illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Women's Caucus, United Nations Conference on Small Arms, 2001

"I Live in Fear": the Consequences of Small Arms on Women and Children in Cambodia
Yem Sam Oeun and Rebecca F. Catella, June 2001

In the Line of Fire: A Gender Perspective on Small Arms Proliferation, Peace Building and Conflict Resolution
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Palais des Nations. Geneva, 7-8 March 2001

Small Arms and Women
Small Arms and Light Weapons Working Group

Female Persuasion: A Study of How the Firearms Industry Markets to Women and the Reality of Women and Guns
Violence Policy Center, Washington, D.C., USA, 1994
This study has two goals: to explore the reality of women ans firearms violence in light of new marketing trends ans to act as a resource and catalyst to involve women and advocacy organizations in the firearms violence debate.

UN Documents

Getting Right, Doing it Right: Gender and Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), October 2004
UNIFEM offers the findings, recommendations and model Standard Operating Procedures contained in this publication towards the goal of implementing the resolution and towards better integrating women’s needs and perspectives in the planning and execution of DDR programmes. These materials are informed by broad consultation, field visits, case studies on DDR in Liberia and Bougainville, and a desk review of the UN’s involvement in DDR. The practical objective is to learn lessons from past processes so that the knowledge gleaned can inform future efforts, as well as those currently under-way. A broader objective is to ask how commitment to the inclusion of women and women’s perspectives in DDR processes can help the UN develop and re-centre its founding goals of conflict prevention, peacekeeping, peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction—all stages of conflict pertinent to DDR, which take on quite a new meaning if viewed from a gender perspective.

Capacity Development in the Reduction of Small Arms and Light Weapons
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), June 2003

Talking Points on Gender and Small Arms
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

Small Arms and Light Weapons: Synthesis of Lessons Learned
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Essentials, No. 9, November 2002

Gender and Disarmament
Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs United Nations, Fourth Annual Women Waging Peace Policy Day, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 8 November 2002

Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan
United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs (DDA), April 2003
This document sets out an action plan for UN Department for Disarmament Affairs for April 2003-December 2005. It was developed as an internal working document through an extensive consultative process woth DDA staff. This plan builds on past efforts of DDA to promote understanding of the importance of gender perspectives in disarmament work. In 2001, DDA in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of WOmen (OSAGI) published Gender Perspectives on Disarmament Briefing Notes. In order to better understand how the mainstreaming of gender perspectives can further disarmament goals, it is necessary to examine the social and political context in which disarmament is relevant, primarily armed conflict- including pre-, post- ans during conflict- as well as policy and decision-making about weapons development, production, deployment, use, limitation and elimination.

Government Statements and Reports

Books, Journals and Articles

Mapping the use of guns in violence against women: Findings from three studies
Institute for Security Studies, August 2006
This article explores the role of firearms in acts of violence against women in South Africa, drawing on three datasets: one investigating the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA), the second exploring gang rapes, and the third documenting intimate femicide.

For the full article, please click HERE

Gender Awareness in Research on Small Arms and Light Weapons: A Preliminary Report
Emily Schroeder, Vanessa Farr and Albrecht Schnabel. swisspeace. Working Paper Series. Bern, January 2005

Gender and Small Arms Moving Into the Mainstream
Emily Schroeder and Lauren Newhouse. Institute for Security Studies. Monograph, No 104, South Africa, October 2004

Triple Jeopardy: Women, Guns and Violence
Dr. Vanessa Farr, Putting People First: Human Security Perspectives on Small Arms Availability and Misuse, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
In this article Farr identifies some of the issues surrounding women, guns and violence as dimensions of human cost of small arms.

Gendered Perspectives on Small Arms Proliferation and Misuse: Effects and Policies
Wendy Cukier, Gender Perspectives on Small Arms and Light Weapons: Regional and International Concerns. Bonn International Center for Conversion Brief 24, July 2002

Protection of Civilians: Gender Considerations for Disarmament, Conflict Transformation and the Establishment of Human Security
International Alert, 2003
The proliferation of ‘portable weapons’ in any society is a key source of the spread of violence, which impacts on the protection of civilians. Disarmament is therefore central to the protection of civilians. 'Human security' needs to be at the heart of any approach to disarmament. The possession of arms as a means of security, defence, brokering power and survival must be replaced by viable and sustainable alternatives. Hence there is the necessity to always consider disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration, transformation and development as linked and interdependent. The experiences of conflict can in many instances be gender specific. For example, men and boys are the usual ‘carriers’ and ‘users’ of portable weapons and women and girls are often the ‘carers’ for those wounded by these weapons. For the sustainability of disarmament and conflict transformation processes, gender roles need to be considered, both in terms of impact and agency. This requires gender and diversity analysis of the conflict dynamics at a household and community level as well as a macro and national level.

Gun Violence and Masculinity in Contemporary South Africa
Jacklyn Cock. Robert Morrell et al, (Eds.) . Changing Men in South Africa. London: Zed Books, 2001