Women’s Disarmament Movements:
Evolution and Continuity

The relationship between gender and disarmament is not always obvious. However, for more than a century women and women’s organizations and movements have mobilized in support of peace and disarmament. While often participating in organizations with men, many women have found it more effective to organize separately with other women against war and weaponization. This article will look at elements of women’s positive contributions to the peace and disarmament movement, a movement which has been largely absent from the documented history.

There are many examples of women’s organizations and movements at the national, regional and international level with a primary focus on peace or disarmament. For example, April 28, 1915, for the first time in history, nearly 1,200 women, called the International Congress of Women, from warring and neutral countries came together to protest the conflict at The Hague in Holland. They eventually formed the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). The organization continues today and advocates internationally for a range of issues from nuclear disarmament to human rights. Throughout the years, it has attracted "far-sighted women whose ideas and actions have kept alive the goals of peace and freedom even in the hardest times".

During the Cold War, women lobbied against the stockpiling and possible use of nuclear weapons. After a 1959 Conference 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 massive educational and petition campaigns. In 1961 the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom pioneered theUS/Soviet Women’s seminars, to help break Cold War barriers. In 1964 a new movement started in America: Women Strike For Peace. Also in 1964 women from many countries appeared at a NATO conference in Holland, demonstrating against plans to set up a multilateral nuclear force. In 1969 the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom sponsored an international conference on ending chemical and biological warfare. During the 1980's the women of Greenham Common inspired the world with their commitment to opposing nuclear weapons and bases. They left their homes to dedicate themselves to peace just as, for centuries, men have left their homes to fight wars.

Although women’s peace organizations in Europe and North America have received most of the publicity, there are organizations in all parts of the world. For example, in the Pacific region women have organized against nuclear testing, and Japanese women set up a peace camp at the base of Mount Fuji. Women’s groups in Africa have been actively involved in advocating for peace and reconstruction, for example, in Angola, Burundi, Somalia and Niger.

An noteworthy initiative which received an overwhelming response was The International Coalition for the Women's Peace Petition, launched at the United Nations at the observance of International Women's Day in 1997. Itgained over 175 organizational sponsors and hundreds of thousands of signatures (mostly from the global south). This petition called for governments to "transfer a minimum of five percent of their military budgets over the next five years to health, education, employment and the peace education programmes". The petition also called for the delegitimization of war as an acceptable form of social behaviour in the same way that slavery, colonialism and apartheid have been delegitimized.

The origin of women’s peace and disarmament movements can be traced to various roots. There is no consensus on the assertion sometimes made that women are "by nature" more peaceful than men. Just as many men have organized for peace, there are numerous examples of women supporting arms build-ups and actively participating in wars. However, it is useful to examine the elements of the development of the women’s peace and disarmament movements calling to end war and begin complete disarmament, as a unique phenomenon.

One of the most evident mobilizing factors is the building of numerous organizations from women’s roles as mothers. Women have often organized to protect their children as in the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo protesting the "disappearance" of their children in Argentina. During the war in Chechnya, a group of mothers of solders called for an end to hostilities, demanded that their sons be sent home, and called for a seat on their country’s security and defense councils. In the 1990s women have continued anti-war action such as mothers in Macedonia who have taken their sons out of the Serbian army. The women of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia provide a similar example and an inspiration for us all.

Another example is the Million Mom March, founded in 1999. This is a national grassroots, chapter-based organization dedicated to preventing gun death and injury and supporting victims and survivors of gun violence. The Million Mom March focuses on education and advocacy through grassroots activity across the country, seeking responsible limits on gun access and use. On Mother's Day 2000, more than 750,000 people marched on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and tens of thousands of others marched in towns across America, to demonstrate their support for sensible gun laws.

Another key to understanding why women have organized in favour of disarmament is the link many women have made between gender equality and peace. For example, the 1915 meeting of women in The Hague saw that a permanent peace could be built only on the basis of equal rights, including equal rights between women and men, and justice within and between national independence and of freedom.

Women’s organizations have often argued that peace is more than the absence of war. They 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. Thus, disarmament relates to ending all forms of violence and creating a culture of peace, which can be perpetuated from generation to generation.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, adopted in October 2000, specifically mentions the need to incorporate gender perspectives in all areas of peace support operations, including in disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation initiatives (paragraph 13). This resolution was a monumental turning point in recognizing the concept of women’s direct contribution to disarmament.

In the lead-up to the adoption of this resolution, there were several UN conferences which attempted to link women and disarmament:

• At the first UN Conference on Women, held in Mexico City in 1975, the three inter-linked goals of equality, development and peace were established. Disarmament was part of the focus on peace.
• The third UN Conference on Women in Nairobi (1985) reaffirmed the commitment to disarmament issues by highlighting the key role women can play, including in nuclear disarmament, and calling for greater support of women’s efforts.
• In 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, governments agreed to Strategic Objective E.2: Reduce excessive military expenditures and control the availability of armaments. Women’s organizations found it important to link disarmament and the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons with women’s empowerment. They made the case that expenditures on arms divert resources from education, health and other initiatives that could improve women’s lives.
• Para 143: (a) Increase and hasten, as appropriate, subject to national security considerations, the conversion of military resources and related industries to development and peaceful purposes;
• (b) Undertake to explore new ways of generating new public and private financial resources, inter alia, through the appropriate reduction of excessive military expenditures, including global military expenditures, trade in arms and investment for arms production and acquisition, taking into consideration national security requirements, so as to permit the possible allocation of additional funds for social and economic development, in particular for the advancement of women.
• The discussions at the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly on Follow-up to the Platform for Action (June 2000) also reaffirmed the links between peace, disarmament and gender equality. The outcome document (A/S-23/10/Rev.1) outlines the achievements and obstacles encountered by governments and international organizations in moving to implement the Beijing Platform for Action. One obstacle identified in the discussion of women and armed conflict was:
• Excessive military expenditures, including global military expenditures, trade in arms and investment for arms production, taking into consideration national security requirements, direct the possible allocation of funds away from social and economic development, in particular for the advancement of women. (para 17)

• 98 (k) Strengthen efforts towards general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control, based on the priorities established by the United Nations in the field of disarmament, so that the released resources could be used for, inter alia, social and economic programmes which benefit women and girls.
• 98 (l) Explore new ways of generating new public and private financial resources, inter alia, through the appropriate reduction of excessive military expenditures and the arms trade and investment for arms production and acquisition, including global military expenditures, taking into consideration national security requirements, so as to permit the possible allocation of additional funds for social and economic development, inter alia, for the advancement of women.
• Finally, the Commission on the Status of Women: Agreed Conclusions on the Critical Areas of Concern of the Beijing Platform for Action (UN Sales No. E.00.IV.6) mentions weapons of mass destruction. Under actions to be taken by governments, the following is mentioned:
• Encourage as appropriate the role of women in the peace movement, working towards general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control including disarmament of all types of weapons of mass destruction.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, adopted in October 2000, specifically mentions the need to incorporate gender perspectives in all areas of peace support operations, including in disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation initiatives (para 13).

There are numerous international and national women’s organizations that focus mainly on building support for peace and disarmament. Ways and means need to be sought to increase the links between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and researchers working on gender and disarmament and the United Nations.

A recent initiative, the NGO Working Group on Women and International Peace and Security, came together in June 2000 with the purpose of taking forward a focused campaign on the development of a Resolution on women, peace and security at the UN Security Council. The group includes Amnesty International, International Alert, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the Hague Appeal for Peace, the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice, the International Women's Tribune Center and the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. These non-governmental organizations have worked with UN departments and sympathetic member states, another example of the productive synergy of the democratic diplomacy at work.

Unlike most Security Council Resolutions, 1325 has a community of active organizations and individuals that know and quote its clauses and expect its full implementation. These groups have pooled their efforts, networks and expertise to spread the good news about the binding international commitments enshrined in Security Council Resolution 1325, and will continue to work towards ensuring its full implementation. The group made Resolution 1325 into an attractive brochure and have distributed 15,000 of them around the world as well as speaking and writing in many languages and on many continents.

In support of the efforts of women’s groups and networks advocating a culture of peace, in 2001 the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs, along with the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, issued a special collection of briefing notes entitled "Gender Perspectives on Disarmament". This resource packet is a useful tool, aimed at increasing gender mainstreaming on disarmament questions.

In addition, Reaching Critical Will, a project of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s United Nations Office, has been monitoring disarmament fora at the United Nations since 1999. This project has played an important role in collecting and distributing vital information from United Nations meetings on disarmament, as well as loudly advocating for the ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament. Evidently, Resolution 1325 codifies in international law a tradition of women actively advocating for peace and disarmament at every level, a tradition which has been largely discouraged or ignored.

While women’s achievements have been largely absent from the pages of history, women have made many positive contributions to the peace and disarmament movement. A fierce loyalty to the goals of world peace keeps these women activists for peace and disarmament moving forward. Several avenues for active participation of women have been opened since the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom formed during the calamity of World War I. Many women persist and find ways around enormous obstacles, and theirs is a struggle which uses not weapons, but words and non-violent actions.

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom website: www.wilpf.int.ch

PeaceWomen website: www.peacewomen.org

Reaching Critical Will website: www.reachingcriticalwill.org

"Gender Perspectives on Disarmament." Statement by Felicity Hill, Former Director of WILPF UN http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/genderdisarm/genderindex.html

"The Work of the Department for Disarmament Affairs in Implementing Security Council Resolution 1325", by Jayantha Dhanapala, Under Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs. United Nations Inter-agency Panel to Commemorate the First Anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325, New York, 31 October 2001.

Organized by the Inter-agency Taskforce on Women, Peace and Security.

http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/1com/DDA1325dana.pdf

"Gender Perspectives on Disarmament", Published by The Department for Disarmament Affairs in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/gender.htm

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