The Conjugal Slavery in War (CSiW) partnership has published the second policy brief of the series, Forward-Looking Strategies in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
This policy brief, titled “Masculinities + WPS,” is authored by Divija Madhani, an undergraduate UBC student and research assistant under the Conjugal Slavery in War (CSiW) partnership. Her work was supported by SPPGA Professor Erin Baines and MPPGA alumna Alessia Rodríguez Di Eugenio.
The policy brief examines why masculinities matter to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. It identifies the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions that reference men and boys and provides a review of the literature on masculinities and wartime. The brief outlines different concepts of masculinities and explains how masculinities are not articulated in the WPS agenda, although men and boys are represented both explicitly (as policymakers, diplomats, etc.) and implicitly (as perpetrators of violence as well as secondary victims of sexual and gender-based violence and allies in the promotion of gender equality). The brief outlines how masculinities matter to the WPS agenda and points to the impacts of patriarchal gender norms, particularly when they are combined with other global structures such as capitalism, racism, and coloniality.
About the Series: Forward Looking Strategies in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda: A Policy Brief Series maps new policy priorities in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25) and the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1325 in 2020. The series will examine the WPS agenda in relation to men and boys as victims of sexual violence; men and boys as allies in promoting gender equality; masculinities; children born of war; disabilities, and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).
The policy series is part of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs’ commitment as a partner in the Conjugal Slavery in War (CSiW), which documents cases of so-called forced marriage in conflict situations, places this data in historical context, and impacts the international prosecution of crimes against humanity as well as local reparations programs for survivors of violence. With the central participation of community-based organizations in Africa, this project will strengthen individual’s and organizations’ capacity to prevent violence, and advance understanding of the use of conjugal slavery as a tool of war through evidence-based research.
As part of the CSiW partnership, Professor Erin Baines also contributed to an exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) titled “Ododo Wa: Stories of Girls in War.”
