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

by Ní Aoláin, Fionnuala; Haynes, Dina Francesca; Cahn, Naomi

• ISBN13: 9780199918416
• ISBN10: 0199918414
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2011-11-16
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

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 N? Aol?in, 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.

Author Biography

Fionnuala N? Aol?in concurrently holds the Dorsey & Whitney Chair in Law at the University of Minnesota Law School and a Chair in Law at the Transitional Justice Institute (Belfast). She was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard Law School, and Associate-in-Law at Columbia Law School, Associate Professor of Law at the Hebrew University and co-founder of the Transitional Justice Institute at the University of Ulster. N? Aol?in has been active in human rights and women's rights issues in Ireland and internationally throughout her academic career.

Dina Francesca Haynes is Professor of Law at New England Law | Boston. She has previously taught at Georgetown Law Center, American University's Washington College of Law and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Prior to teaching, Haynes was a practicing international human rights lawyer in a variety of positions and has worked on human rights, human trafficking, gender, and post conflict reconstruction issues in Chad, Botswana, South Africa, Rwanda, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia and Romania.

Naomi Cahn is the John Theodore Fey Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School. She has written numerous law review articles and several books in the areas of family law, international law, and feminism. Professor Cahn is co-chair of the Women in International Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law, and a member of the Yale Cultural Cognition Project.

Table of Contents

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