BLOG: Women for Peace

PERSISTENT and exclusionary patterns of power are preventing women from participating in peace processes and in the rebuilding of societies after war. Despite a general acceptance of women's contribution being crucial for peace and reconciliation, women are still routinely excluded from both national and international decision-making bodies with responsibility of shaping the future of a post-conflict country. According to The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation report, Equal Power - Lasting Peace, based on a unique mapping of five different contexts of conflict, there is an urgent need for an increased recognition of the power structures behind women's exclusion.

Recognition without action

In most conflict areas in the world women are actively involved in laying the ground for peace. Women put their own safety at risk to collect food and water for the children, they create networks and they build alliances at grassroots level with women across the front line. They are also the ones most committed to the reconciliation process after the war. This is not because women are naturally more peaceful than men, but because of their societal role which makes them responsible for the survival of their family and thus in need of security.

Yet, when time has come for formal peace negotiations and for laying out the map of the future, women are marginalised or totally excluded. Present at the negotiations table are representatives from the armed fractions. Since almost half of all wars relapse into further wars, peace negotiating is a practice that needs to be challenged: apparently, it is difficult to turn warlords into peacelords overnight.

The fight for power

According to the findings presented in this report, the issue of power — and the fear of losing it - is one of the most important factors that contribute to the exclusion of women from decision-making foras. At all levels of society — local, national or international — women's lack of power prevent them from taking part in the political process. The obstacles may be formal — like in Iraq — where an article in the Constitution gives religious law precedence over family law. This has a direct impact on women's right when it comes to marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance.

Slander and threats

More often, however, the obstacles are informal and linked to cultural and social norms about the gendered nature of society. One striking example is the risk of being subject to slander. A woman's reputation is sometimes considered her most valuable asset and by getting involved in politics she may be considered "dirty" or even a "prostitute". Slandering can thus serve as an efficient way of preventing her from participating. Additionally, all women in the study had experience of receiving various kinds of threats — including death threats.

Sexual violence

Another very powerful obstacle to women's participation is violence — including sexual violence. Perpetrators of sexual violence are often able to continue with impunity, which sends out a signal that violence against women is not illegal or condemnable. In post-conflict societies the violent acts committed against women may change shape or even increase. When male relatives return from the front line they often find their position as head of household occupied by a woman — a change in the power balance that most men are unhappy with and try to change, possibly with force.

Poverty and corruption

Another very efficient excluding mechanism is poverty. In Liberia and the DRC, women could hardly afford to travel to meetings or finance election campaigns. Sometimes they could not get involved in any activities beyond mere survival. According to the women in the DRC, keeping women poor was a conscious strategy planned by men with power. Thus, very little was done to improve the women's economic situation.

Corruption was another obstacle which severely limited women's access to participation. This was testified by the women from the South Caucasus region where male networks have managed to maintain power in nearly all decision-making bodies.

Another important observation in the report is that women in all five cases managed to find a limited space to exercise power and influence by using the image of themselves as "mothers" — eg inherently peaceful and neutral. Women in Azerbaijan and Armenia stressed their image of mothers as "naturally less corrupt". In Iraq several activists asserted that women are "by nature" more peaceful than men. In Liberia, "a woman as a mother is respected". The identification of themselves as mothers was a powerful drive for women's initiatives towards reconciliation. Nevertheless, since "mothers" traditionally look after the household and stay away from politics, this role may simultaneously serve as an effective excluding mechanism.

The key challenge

To conclude, as demonstrated in Equal Power — Lasting Peace, women could play a crucial role in the peace process and the reconstruction of society afterwards. However, as women in all contexts stated: women are not recognised as relevant actors and the multifaceted peace work that they perform is neither noticed nor recognised. Even where legal frameworks have been revised in a more gender-sensitive way, implementation still remains a key challenge. If women are to gain access and be able to fully participate in peace processes, there is an urgent need to more carefully take into account the power dynamics that fuel exclusions — and learn to recognise the way power travels through formal and informal settings. Only then will it be possible to deal with the multifaceted obstacles that create and maintain the exclusion of women.

How to make a change

The international community should:

* Address all levels of violence against women

Violence against women is a major obstacle to women's participation in peace and democracy processes. Violence takes many forms and is present at different levels and in all parts of society — from the domestic sphere to the national political arena. It includes domestic violence, sexual violence, threats and violations of human rights.

* Address gender inequality and power imbalances

The different actors within the international community, such as the EU and the UN, should lead by example and be role models for women's participation and women's human rights. They likewise have a key role to play in bringing the voices of women from conflict-affected regions into policy making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

* Increase funding for women's organisations and make it more strategic

Women's organisations are a key factor in implementing peace agreements, laws and regulations in a society. Women's organisations have the best knowledge of local needs and problems. They are essential for democratic development, and should not be made into service providers for international institutes or the society.