by Lily Gardener, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF
The conventional wisdom that war and peace are of men’s
domain is no longer valid. It never was true, but as the world witnesses
evidence of the contribution of women to practical disarmament and arms control
measures carried out at the local, national, regional,
and sub-regional levels in the prevention and reduction of armed violence and
armed conflict, the role of women becomes more concrete. Women will continue to
play a stronger role in promoting disarmament, non-proliferation, and arms control;
therefore it is only logical that an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) includes the
dimension of gender.
The
ATT negotiations have seen many delegates speak about the impact of the arms
trade in their countries. As also noted the Gerome and Farr article, statistics
show that men account for around 80-90% of homicide victims globally and that GBV
disproportionately impacts women and girls. However, there are variations to
this across cultures, countries, and regions. Not all victims of GBV are female;
men are harassed, beaten, or killed because they fail to conform to a socially
acceptable view of masculinity. GBV includes violence against individuals based
on their sexual orientation and gender identity. GBV is more likely to occur when
the perpetrator is carrying a small arm or light weapon. Yet, this information is
useless
unless it is applied during the development of policies that can diminish the
incidence of GBV.
Therefore, anything other than the inclusion of GBV, such as the term “violence
against women,” is unacceptable, as it will only reinforce stereotypes of women
as weak and childlike rather than recognising the strength of women as active
members of communities.