Resources


Reports and Magazines

Developing the Security Sector: Security for whom, by whom? Security Sector Reform and Gender

Women are often recognised as victims of war, but in the peace and reconstruction process their specific needs and their role, contribution and rights are usually overlooked. The challenge is to integrate and implement UN SCR 1325 in the security sector. This paper gives examples and practical suggestions relating to the police service, the armed forces, the intelligence and security services, paramilitary groups, the legal and justice system, the prison system and probation service, the border control and customs services, and finally the oversight agencies. The most important recommendation is to make use of gender perspectives, expertise and instruments in everything associated with security, and learn from the examples that are available.
To download the report, click here

Sexual violence in armed conflict: global overview and implications for the security sector – Geneva centre for the democratic control of armed forces

This report from Geneva Centre for the democratic control of armed forces demonstrates the horrifying scope and magnitude of sexual violence in armed conflict.

The first part of the report, the Global Overview, profiles documented conflict-related sexual violence in 50 countries - in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East - that have experienced armed conflict over the past twenty years. Each profile contains a short summary of the conflict, a description of forms of sexual violence that occurred and, where available, quantitative data on sexual violence. The second part of the report, entitled Implications for the Security Sector, explores strategies for security and justice actors to prevent and respond to sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations. It focuses in particular on peacekeepers; police; the justice sector, including transitional justice; civil society initiatives; and how DDR programmes can address sexual violence.

The full printed document can be obtained from DCAF: publications@dcaf.ch

For the executive summary, click here

For more information on Geneva Centre for the democratic control of armed forces, please visit: http://www.dcaf.ch/index.cfm



Grace, Tenacity and Eloquence: The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Africa - FAHAMU

Fahamu has a new publication; Grace, tenacity and eloquence: The struggle for women’s rights in Africa , edited by Patrick Burnett, Shereen Karmali & Firoze Manji (2007).

In Africa, women are fighting for their rights. And they are fighting with grace, tenacity and eloquence. The contributors describe how African women won a cross-continental campaign for a protocol to protect their rights. In a rich variety of articles, they consider topics such as: women and conflict, the impact of current US policies on women’s health in Africa, women’s rights in Islam, and the implications of the Jacob Zuma trial for women in South Africa.

To download the document, click here

Campaign to end stoning in Iran report - Amnesty International

The punishment for adultery in Iran is execution by stoning. Eleven people currently await this punishment despite an official moratorium on the practice issued in 2002. Amnesty International’s report calls for end to stoning and an end to the punishment of execution in any form for the crime of adultery.

The report cites evidence that the majority of defendants sentenced to death by stoning are women, typically after unfair trials that capitalize on the increased vulnerability and unequal treatment of women under the law.

To read the full report, click here

Exploring the dimensions of masculinity and violence – report from CARE and International Center for Research on Women

CARE International and the International Center for Research on Women released “Exploring the Dimensions of Masculinity and Violence,” a report that documents their work through the Western Balkan Gender-Based Violence Prevention Initiative looking at social constructions of masculinity and how those constructions lead to attitudes and behaviors toward women.

To read the full report, click here

Gender and Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration

The paper highlights a number of critical issues in the discussion on gender and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR). Apart from giving an impression of women’s participation in warfare, the paper analyses four key roles of women in (ir)regular armies, namely that of combatant, support worker, abductee, and dependant. It elaborates on the (im)possibilities of DDR programs to assist all women who have been involved in (ir)regular armies.
Finally, the paper outlines a number of building blocs for a possible Dutch policy on gender and DDR. The annexes of the paper includes a checklist on gender and DDR, which donors could use to address gender issues in the planning and implementation of DDR programs.

To read the paper, click here