Suchergebnisse

Women & children make up the majority of refugees & displaced persons & are the primary victims of modern warfare. Although UN resolution 1325, passed in 2001, took great strides toward redefinition of women & acknowledgment of women as active participants & contributors to peace & security issues, an analysis of UN & other international relations documents highlights that the vast majority of reports focus on women & children as a victims of conflict not as potential dynamic actors. Yet in warfare situations the gender gap deepens & increases the physical threat to women, reinforces the most conservative cultural norms, & feeds nationalist discourse. Although women take part in grass roots peace movements & are capable of violence & action, they are rarely found in the policy realm. While much progress has been made to strengthen legal protections for women, enforcement is a greater challenge. Perhaps greater protection would be provided by deconstructing gender roles in post-conflict situations, challenging the static definition of masculinity & femininity & redefining power relations & gender inequality. L. Kehl

Résumé La guerre menée en Afghanistan contre le régime des Talibans a donné aux femmes une visibilité internationale. Les Afghanes ont su profiter de ces bouleversements pour prendre part aux différentes conférences qui ont posé les jalons de la reconstruction de leur pays déchiré par des années d'ostracisme. Toutefois, si deux femmes ont réussi à obtenir des portefeuilles ministériels dans le nouveau gouvernement de transition, la situation reste encore précaire pour la majorité des femmes qui doivent lutter au quotidien pour leur survie et pour le respect de leurs droits les plus fondamentaux. L'engagement des femmes dans les différentes étapes de la réhabilitation de leur pays est indispensable à la promotion d'une société stable et d'une paix durable en Afghanistan.

AbstractAlthough women routinely display remarkable resilience and fortitude by adopting new roles and taking on new responsibilities when confronted by the ravages of war, they continue to be depicted by many humanitarian actors as being intrinsically weak and vulnerable – a depiction that results in the perceptible absence of women from decision-making bodies both during and in the wake of conflict. This article argues for the need to consider the plurality of women's experiences in war, including as female heads of households, as victims (and survivors) of sexual violence, as community leaders, and as armed combatants.