General Women, Peace and Security

Jenny Pierce's recent piece about El Salvador on the Inter-American Development Bank's blog, Sin Miedos, questioned where women's voices fit into discussions surrounding the (in)famous gang trucebrokered in 2012. While Pierce's question remains salient, perhaps at a more fundamental level, there should be a question about where women's voices fit into ideas of security in El Salvador more generally.

Laws to punish domestic violence are too often honoured in the breach
Sep 21st 2013 | BUENOS AIRES | From the print edition

Protect her
ONE night last year police received a call from worried residents of a wealthy area of San Salvador, El Salvador's capital, who thought they had heard a woman being beaten up by her partner. A few minutes later they called back to say they had heard gunshots ring out from the house.

Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan (CNN) -- They carried teapots and tiny gas canisters, shopping bags filled with clothes and overstuffed bundles of blankets balanced on their heads. Many held jerry cans, once full with water, now dangling empty.

Washington — The Obama administration is redoubling its efforts to end gender violence in the United States, as well as around the world.

I've been watching the news about the war in Syria with a mixture of anger and worry. Yes, I'm angry and deeply disturbed when I read about the thousands of people who have been killed and the millions displaced by their own government. And yes, I'm worried about the prospect of United States military intervention after a decade of war.

The new head of Japan's national broadcaster NHK defence of the country's wartime military sexual slavery is deplorable, said Amnesty International.

At his first press conference since his appointment, Katsuto Momii is reported to have said the practice was common in any country at war and he was puzzled at the international outcry of its use.

Roseann Rife, East Asia Research Director at Amnesty International commented:

The campaign to ensure women's equal participation at the peace talks on Syria in January has become more urgent, as certain parties recognize that women are vital in rebuilding and reconciling Syrian society. Yet only a few weeks before the talks are scheduled to start, no commitment has been made as to whether women will actually sit at the negotiating table between the Syrian government and the opposition.

“We need more women leaders! When women lead side by side with men, it is good for equality and democracy. It is good for peace and stability. It is good for business.

Female opposition lawmaker, Hon. Veronica Sesay, representing Constituency 85 in Moyamba District, southern Sierra Leone, has called on all political parties to encourage and empower more women to participate in politics in general and parliamentary politics in particular by according them more opportunities to contest for parliamentary seats and to be given key positions in Parliament.

In late November 2013, Egyptian police rounded up 14 female activists in downtown Cairo, including three prominent women who had helped lead the first protests against former President Hosni Mubarak's regime in 2011. Three years later, the women were still at it, now protesting military trials against civilians and a draconian new law banning public demonstrations without a permit.