Civil-Military Cooperation and Gender Perspectives

The civil-military interface is fraught with tension , misunderstanding , and power struggles where different actors compete, cooperate or coordinate in claims of authority and/or legitimacy to act. " Civil-military interaction refers to the range and nature of contact, from coexistence to coordination , and/or cooperation between national (local) and international (foreign) civilian (ranging from government officials to NGOs both humanitarian and development, to local populations) and military actors in a crisis situation" (Hoogensen Gjørv 2014 : 7). The complexity of different civil-military contexts is compounded by gender dynamics which affect information and intelligence gathering, psychological operations, patrolling, training of local forces, the use of interpreters, the impact of raids and combat operations and any possible resulting resistance, and support for the mission and international militaries in general. In this chapter we take a critical look at the ways in which gender is understood and operationalized in the context of international operations and specifi cally within the civil-military interface, with a special focus on NATO operations. The military practitioners who are operating in the civil-military interface are many, and it is not possible to address the wide range of functions adequately in one chapter. We focus therefore on a number of key roles in civil-military interaction (CMI) that have had experience in trying to operationalize gender, such

Power in Global Governance, 2005

International Studies Encyclopedia, 2011

Journal of European Integration , 2009

"This article is concerned with the policy and legal aspects of the incorporation of the gender equality perspective within European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) missions and Member States’ armed forces. Examining documentation issued by the Council, and relevant jurisprudence from the Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ), it appreciates the practical implications and degree of convergence of the measures taken in support of equality between the sexes in the defence and security sector across the first and second pillars. This article argues that while awareness-raising will most likely result from the action of the Council, and although the arbitrariness of discriminatory policies has been reduced through the ECJ jurisprudence, the effects of the overall EU equality activism on the composition of armed forces — be it in national or ESDP troops — are in fact limited."

Jurnal Pertahanan & Bela Negara

Whether in conflict and war or peacebuilding, women are always considered victims of human rights violation and the vulnerable. In recent decades, there has been efforts to advocate for the protection of women's rights and women empowerment in the name of emancipation. This has allowed women's presence in several key sectors, including politics and military, resulting in a new role for women as resources in military strategy. This has put the policy to protect women during war into question, especially when women have now become a combatant. This paper analyzes this issue through two concepts (women protection and military strategy to understand the military's perception toward women's position and one theory (feminism) to understand women's perception toward their roles in the military during war. Therefore, the object of this observation is the role of women in military strategy with regard to the implementation of women' rights protection and military stra...

Naval War College Review, 2020

Recommended Citation Raum, Mary (2020) "Review Essays—Key Publications for the Study of Women, Peace, and Security: "Conflict-Related Violence against Women: Transforming Transition," "Women and Gender Perspectives in the Military: An International Comparison," and "The Oxford Handbook on Women, Peace, and Security"," Naval War College Review: Vol. 73 : No. 3 , Article 11. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol73/iss3/11

Griffith law review, 2015

Collective security and peacekeeping, one of its progeny, have traditionally been thought to have little relevance to women, apart from providing a means to provide for their protection. Yet it takes only a moment's reflection to see the gendered shape of this thinking, which casts military men and diplomats as the primary actors, and women, often together with children, as the vulnerable potential victims whose defence and rescue help to motivate or even legitimate military intervention-whether forceful or with the consent of the state in question. This gendered schemata continues to pervade laws, policies and practices relating to the maintenance of international peace and security, as seen with the military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, which both relied heavily on the rationale of protecting women and advancing 'women's rights' to shore up waning public support in the west. 1 The same rationale is also frequently used to explain and justify peacekeeping and the engagement of the international community in postconflict reconstruction. Through these means, the well-worn gender hierarchy, of masculine capability associated with strength and female vulnerability connected to lack, is constantly repeated and reconstituted, even in those places where the international community claims that it is helping to construct post-conflict societies that respect and promote women's equality. Women's peace movements, human rights advocates and feminist activists and academics have struggled for at least the last century to challenge the gendered assumptions of militarism and the precarious security that military thinking offers. 2 Yet it is only relatively recently that feminist analysis has started to impact on mainstream developments in international law and international relations theory and practice. Whether these developments can be read hopefully, as providing

To further the discussion on gender in military affairs, this article discusses two questions: why should gender perspectives be introduced and implemented in military organizations? And how should this process be managed to do so successfully? Regardless of whether we agree that gender perspectives are important for military affairs or not, or if we simply obey the “orders” of the National Action Plan (NAP), we are facing the challenge of implementing UNSCR 1325 in a vast organization with a culture that has traditionally been unkind to these perspectives. The process of implementation must therefore be approached as an uphill battle that will involve substantial resistance. The article draws on a major study of a similar process in Sweden that will serve to highlight general tactical choices, organizational hurdles, and policy implications for an international audience.

Eui Working Paper, 2009

Armed conflict and occupation are by definition necessarily violent for all participants, be they civilians or combatants. However, for women it heralds an exacerbation in existing violence, discrimination and inequalities. While international humanitarian law (IHL) has dedicated or 'special' provisions for women, feminist legal scholars have done much to expose the gendered nature of this branch of international law. In recent decades, the United Nations' campaign of mainstreaming of women's issues has impacted significantly on relevant human rights law (HR Law), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has actively sought to investigate and address women's concerns. However, there has been limited flow through of these efforts in the sphere of private military and security companies (PMSCs).