On the Frontlines: Gender, War, and the Post-Conflict Process

Gender oppression has been a feature of war and conflict throughout human history, yet until fairly recently, little attention was devoted to addressing the consequences of violence and discrimination experienced by women in post-conflict states. Thankfully, that is changing. Today, in a variety of post-conflict settings-the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Colombia, Northern Ireland -international advocates for women's rights have focused bringing issues of sexual violence, discrimination and exclusion into peace-making processes. In On the Frontlines, Fionnuala Ni Aolain, Dina Francesca Haynes, and Naomi Cahn consider such policies in a range of cases and assess the extent to which they have had success in improving women's lives. They argue that there has been too little success, and that this is in part a product of a focus on schematic policies like straightforward political incorporation rather than a broader and deeper attempt to alter the cultures and societies that are at the root of much of the violence and exclusions experienced by women. They contend that this broader approach would not just benefit women, however. Gender mainstreaming and increased gender equality has a direct correlation with state stability and functions to preclude further conflict. If we are to have any success in stabilizing failing states, gender needs to move to fore of our efforts. With this in mind, they examine the efforts of transnational organizations, states and civil society in multiple jurisdictions to place gender at the forefront of all post-conflict processes. They offer concrete analysis and practical solutions to ensuring gender centrality in all aspects of peace making and peace enforcement.

Introduction ; Key Threads and Themes ; Gender Centrality ; Relevant International Norms ; Part I - Conflict and its Dynamics ; Chapter 1 - Before, During and After Conflict - The Connections for Women ; Mapping the Status of Women Prior to Conflict ; Some Relevant Measures ; Gender, Law, and Social Capital ; A Practical Assessment of the Before and After ; Chapter 2 - Gender and the Forms and Experiences of Conflict ; Women as Political and Military Actors ; Violence, Women, and Victimization ; Masculinities and Conflict ; Part II - Towards Peace ; Chapter 3 - The Significance of Security: Realizing Peace ; Is Gender Central to Security? ; Security Reform and Transition ; Critique of Mainstream Approaches to the Concept of Post-Conflict Security ; So Where is Gender in Security Reform? ; Security Reform, Transition, and Transnational Interests ; A New Paradigm of Gendered Security ; Chapter 4 - Engendering International Intervention ; International Interventions ; The Actors ; Towards Gender Positive Intervention ; Capturing and Retaining Gender Equity Achieved During War ; Chapter 5 - Peacekeeping ; Parameters and Status of Peacekeeping Missions ; Masculinities of Peacekeeping ; Positive and Negative Lessons Learned from Peacekeeping Missions ; Positives and Negatives of Employment and Economic Stimulus ; Sexual Violence and Peacekeeping Missions ; What Would Gender-Positive Peacekeeping Address? ; Legal Accountability ; Codes of Conduct ; Added Gender Roles in Peacekeeping ; Chapter 6 - Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programs (DDR) ; DDR Programs: What Happens? ; The Power of Gender and DDR ; Deconstructing DDR Programs ; Reconstructing DDR Programs ; Attention to Masculinities ; The Ways Forward ; Chapter 7 - International and Local Criminal Accountability for Gendered Violence ; Sex-Based Violence and Accountability in International Law ; The Legal Journey to Codify Gendered Crimes in Armed Conflicts ; Evidentiary Rules and Sexual Violence ; Other Accountability Mechanisms - Restorative Justice and Other Practices ; Chapter 8 - Remedies ; Truth Processes ; The Gendered Dimensions of Truth Recovery ; How Can Truth Recovery Mechanisms Centralize Gender? ; Reparations ; Lustration, Vetting, and Gender ; Chapter 9 - Law Reform, Constitutional Design, and Gender ; Gender and the Rule of Law in Post-Conflict Societies ; Constitutional Transformation and Post-Conflict Processes ; Process: Peace Agreements as Constitutional Documents ; Constitutional Gender Centrality - Substance and Export ; Reproductive Rights ; Part III - Reconstruction and Development ; Chapter 10 - Gender and Governance ; Post Conflict Governance ; Institution Building ; Governance Conflated with Economic Reconstruction and Democratization ; Gendering Governance ; Chapter 11 - Development Infrastructure: Economics, Health and Education ; The Differing Directions of Post-conflict and Development Fields ; Gender Centrality in Development ; Social Services Justice as the Integration of Post Conflict ; Processes and Development ; Long-term Development