For the first time in history, on April 28, 1915, a group of 1,200 women from warring and neutral countries named the International Congress for Women came together to protest against World War I at The Hague in the Netherlands. This later became the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Thus began a century in which women and their organisations and movements mobilized in support of peace and disarmament.
During the Cold War, women lobbied against arms stockpiling and the possible use of nuclear weapons. After a conference in 1959 on the “Responsibility of Women in the Atomic Age”, the newly formed European Movement of Women Against Nuclear Armament and other women's groups, embarked on a massive educational and petition campaign. A few years later in 1961, WILPF pioneered the US/Soviet women's seminars to help break Cold War barriers. In 1964, a new movement, Women's Strike for Peace, was started in the United States and the same year women from many countries came to the NATO Conference in the Netherlands to stage a demonstration against plans to establish a multilateral nuclear force. Five years later, WILPF sponsored an international conference on ending chemical and biological warfare. And during the 1980s, the women of Greenham Common in England inspired the world with their opposition to nuclear weapons and bases. These women left their homes to dedicate themselves to peace – just as for centuries men have left their homes to fight wars. In the Pacific region women have organized themselves against nuclear testing and Japanese women set up a peace camp at the base of Mount Fuji. Women's groups in African countries like Angola, Burundi, Somalia and Niger have also advocated for peace and reconstruction.
One of the most compelling factors in the mobilization of women to form their own organizations is their role as mothers. Time and time again, women have often organized themselves to protect their children.
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina protested the “disappearance” of their children during the reign of a tyrannical military dictatorship and the Meira Paibis challenged the destruction caused by armed conflict in the northeastern region of Manipur in India. In Sri Lanka, a group of more than 2,000 women from across the island, both directly and in-directly affected by the war, formed the Association of War Affected Women (AWAW); their sons and husbands either missing/missing in action, killed, or disabled due to the conflict.
In the 1990s women continued the anti-war movement as mothers in both Macedonia and Chechnya. In the United States, the Million Mom March was founded in 1999, dedicated to the prevention of gun deaths and injuries and to support both the victims and survivors of gun violence.
An individual's decision to disarm is influenced by the perception of personal and economic security, an issue that is highly salient for women. This makes disarmament a continuing process that is dependent on myriad of factors such as crime levels, economic opportunities, the state's ability to protect its citizens, and the degree to which the gun has become legitimized within society.
A key factor to understanding why women have formed organisations in favour of disarmament is the link many women have made between gender equality and peace. The 1915 meeting of women in The Hague concluded that permanent peace could be built only on the basis of equal rights, including equal rights between women and men, justice within and between national independence and freedom. Women have linked various phenomena of violence, such as violations of human rights, violence against women, and structural violence in economic disparities, to the violence seen during wars. Through this perspective it becomes clear that disarmament relates not only to all forms of violence but also to the creation of a culture of peace, which can be perpetuated from generation to generation.
The security implications for women, while they may not be comparable to those faced directly by men, are also enormous. When guns flow freely in community settings, and are not removed once a conflict ends, women run the risk of not only of facing lethal domestic violence, but they become more vulnerable while managing their daily workload. Women typically become the caretakers for those who have been injured or disabled by gunfire.
Unsurprisingly, men have traditionally been associated with the use, ownership and promotion of small arms, as they are overwhelmingly the owners and users of guns. They are also the primary victims of gun violence. Evidence shows that women ownership and use of guns is far less than that of men and therefore, women's views towards weapons are much different. This difference is an opportunity for peacemakers to carefully nurture and promote more women's participation in disarmament processes.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was adopted in October 2000. This particular resolution specifically mentions the need to incorporate gender perspectives in all areas of peace support operations, including disarmament, demobilisation and rehabilitation initiatives. The resolution proved monumental as a historical turning point in acknowledging women's direct contribution to disarmament. The resolution codified in international law a tradition of women actively advocating for peace and disarmament at every level.
In 2001, the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs along with the Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement for Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs issued a special collection of briefing notes entitled, “Gender Perspectives on Disarmament”. In addition, “Reaching Critical Will”, a project of WILPF's UN office has been monitoring disarmament for at the UN since 1999. This project continues to play an important role in the collection and distribution of vital information from UN meetings on disarmament.
The extraordinary courage of women from across the world has to be recognized who have dedicated their lives to worldwide disarmament and peace. And we encourage the global community to support the peace effort and together, we can make and continue to build a peaceful world.
[Ms. Binalakshmi Nepram Mentschel is presently Oxfam GB's Consultant on Control Arms and the Arms Trade Treaty. She is also the founding Secretary General of the New Delhi based Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI) and of the Manipuri Women Gun Survivor Network (MWGSN) based in the Indo-Burma border state of Manipur. Binalakshmi was awarded a Ploughshares Fellowship in 2004 to work on small arms mitigation in northeastern India and the 2006 WISCOMP Scholar of Peace for her work on women and disarmament issues.]
