The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region recognized as part of Azerbaijan but populated by Armenians, has resulted in thousands of casualties and civilian displacement. The frozen conflict dating back to the early 1990s reignited in 2020 in a large-scale war that led to thousands of more deaths. While a ceasefire was reached in 2020, sporadic violence has continued. Peace News spoke with experts to get a better understanding of the conflict’s drivers and how long-term peace can be achieved.
Peace News interviewed Dr. Jamie Hagen to reflect on inclusive peace and the Queering Women, Peace and Security project in Colombia.
Although LGBTQ organizations are not often invited to peace negotiations, when given the opportunity, they can offer new ways of understanding peace and building a post-conflict society informed by the day-to-day needs of the queer community. Efforts to bring a gender perspective to peace and security work often neglect how members of LGBTQ (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) communities experience conflict, seek security, and work for peace. Initiatives that address this shortcoming allow opportunities for intersectional feminist collaborations across movements to confront violence. This is especially true for those human rights activists who bring the needs of LGBTQ individuals to the national and international agenda.
As I write in my work about Queering Women, Peace and Security, the Women, Peace and Security agenda is based on heterosexual (straight) assumptions about gender. This can lead to the erasure of queer experiences by scholars and policymakers. There is also a risk of invisibility for lesbian and bisexual relationships which in some contexts are takens serious because they do not involve men.
Research focusing on the lived experiences of queer and trans women highlights the increased vulnerabilities certain women face because of their intersectional identities including sexuality, race, class, and disability. For example, trans women are at risk of compounded violence as a result of the intersection of homophobia, economic insecurity, and sexual harassment as documented in research by Human Rights Watch about trans women in Lebanon. It is equally important to recognize how LGBTQ people are leading protest in peacebuilding work in places like Lebanon, Colombia, and Myanmar.
Queer women in peace and security
One of the most common questions I get is: We are a women’s peace organization – shouldn’t an LGBTQ organization be supporting lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer women? In reality, LGBTQ organizations, especially those working in conflict-related spaces, are understaffed and overstretched. Worse yet, those supporting lesbian, bisexual and queer women are severely underfunded globally which leads to a lack of data about these communities and lack of services for them when other women’s organizations focus solely on supporting heterosexual women.
Most importantly, women as a group should include queer women. While not every member of the LGBTQ community aligns with a binary gender (male or female), many do. Thinking intersectionally includes also thinking about sexual orientation and gender identity for everyone. Sexuality is not something only relevant to those who are part of the LGBTQ community.
The four pillars (participation, prevention, protection, relief and recovery) of Women, Peace and Security certainly apply to transgender women, bisexual women, and lesbian women. Research also shows these communities in many instances are even more vulnerable to harms like sexual violence, and experiencing homelessness and displacement. As research by International alert finds, it is imperative that those working to include the voices of women in peacebuilding also prioritize working with lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer women as a dimension of intersectional peacebuilding.
Queering WPS in Colombia’s first National Action Plan (NAP)
Our Queering Women, Peace and Security (WPS) project, a British Academy funded Innovation Fellowship led by Anupama Ranawana from Christian Aid UK and me, focuses on improving engagement with lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LBTQ) women in WPS Programming. The year-long fellowship focuses on the role of including LBTQ women in the development and implementation of Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans and contributes to a larger effort of taking a critical security studies approach to understanding peacebuilding. The full research team also includes María Susana Peralta Ramón of Colombia Diversa who serves as research coordinator on the project, and Nathalie Mercier of Christian Aid Colombia who serves as research assistant.
The project engages with and supports ongoing work to queer gender, peace and security efforts through collaboration with the leading Colombian LGBTIQ+ organization Colombia Diversa. The research is also exploring what queer theory and LGBTQ advocacy might offer for improving Women, Peace and Security implementation practices internationally when ensuring a gender perspective in all peace and security efforts.
This project comes at an important time with the recent launch of the United Kingdom’s’s fifth National Action Plan for implementing Women, Peace and Security and plans for the first Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan in Colombia. The fifth UK NAP includes mention of LGBTQ people, as have previous UK NAPs. Our hope is that the Colombian NAP will go even further, drawing from expertise from LGBTQ organizations like Colombia Diversa to queer approaches to key ideas in the NAP, most importantly security, in a meaningful way to impact the lives of the queer community. Recognizing this is important not only for Colombia, but for all future NAPs, one of the key publications from the project will be a toolkit which will provide training opportunities for Women, Peace and Security practitioners and enable knowledge exchange from LGBTQ organizations in the future to be published this Spring. Workshops in Bogotá with people from the LGBTQ community are central to the research project.
Ways to support queering peace and security
Though I’ve faced challenges and hardships, I’ve been really pleased by the extensive support we have received throughout the project. Although this is a marginalized project, there are many who are very interested in supporting it, including attention to sexual orientation and gender identity as a part of their peace and security work. I also recognize my privileged position as a white lesbian queer woman doing this work based in a secure position within a university in the Global North.
As ever, there is the challenge of how this work will remain funded. For example, while Colombia Diversa was initially invited to engage on LGBTQ issues during the consultations on the drafting of the first Colombian National Action Plan, the Colombian government did not offer any funding for this. Fortunately, Outright International has offered funding for this work.
Based on my experience working across policy, practitioner and academic spaces related to gender, peace and security, many people are interested in supporting LGBTQ people. At the same time, there is still some confusion about what it means to queer peacebuilding and queer security. In response to this I have started to make resources including a Frequently Asked Questions page and a postcard resource with details about how to engage queer women in the WPS agenda. I also recently co-hosted a Conversation Cafe: How Do we Queer Peace and Security inviting civil society actors to join in casual conversation to think through how to continue to do more for engaging queer communities in peace and security work. You can read the outcomes of those discussions. Other helpful resources include the Centre for Gender in Politics Queering Women, Peace and Security Policy Brief series including the most recent publication, Supporting Queer Feminist Mobilizations in Peace and Security.
We all have a personal stake in addressing the exclusionary practices that leave out queer women, that exclude trans people from peace and security. What I would like to share with other peacebuilders above all, is everyone can and should think about both gender and sexuality as a dimension of your peacebuilding work. While it is important to understand the vulnerabilities of LGBTQ communities, it is even more important to recognize members of queer and trans communities as agents of positive change.
A Spanish translation by Carlos Andrés Lara Ruiz is available here
An independent media plays a vital role in upholding democratic processes and the rule of law. For the last thirty years, World Press Freedom Day on 3 May has provided a chance to remind governments of the importance of press freedom and to reflect on professional ethics in the media industry. In a country like Nepal, without a long history of media independence, emerging technologies have facilitated a rapid expansion of new platforms in recent years. This rapid growth has led to many positive outcomes. Fearless reporting now exposes human rights violations and gender-based violence, holds state actors to account, and protects the rights of marginalised people.
However, there remains a serious gap in Nepali media in terms of representation of women and members of marginalised communities. Studies have generally shown that the media is not inclusive in either newsroom employment or media content. The mainstream media has been unable to feature perspectives, ideas, stories, and lived experiences of historically marginalised people including women, ethnic and religious minorities, sexual minorities, and people with disabilities.
Research by International Alert Nepal shows that little has changed in this direction. Women account for under 20% of journalists and under 5% of the most senior positions. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) estimates that 75% of the newsroom workforce comes from the Khas, Bahun, Chhetri and Thakuri castes, which make up only 30% of the population.
Media houses have not employed women and members of marginalized communities in the newsroom and their policies do not compel them to do so. This unwillingness and lack of incentives, coupled with the lack of job security in the profession and government policies, is a root cause for women and members of marginalized communities not joining the media sector.
The women journalists who responded to our research team were of the view that women journalists are treated first as women and then only second as journalists. They reported a prevalent mindset that women’s issues must be raised only by women. None of the women journalists said that their newsrooms are inclusive in terms of gender or ethnicity. This appears to stand in direct contradiction to Nepal’s constitution, which promises gender equality and proportionate representation.
Inclusion is the key foundation of Nepal’s peace process and democratic polity. This is made clear by The Comprehensive Peace Accord, signed between the Nepal government and the rebels, which served as the foundational document for the federal republic polity of Nepal.The parties to the accord agreed to “carry out an inclusive, democratic and progressive restructuring of the state in order to address the problems related to women, Dalit, indigenous people, Janajatis, Madheshi, oppressed, neglected and minority communities and backward regions by ending discrimination based on class, caste, language, gender, culture, religion, and region.” It is a concern that what was promised 17 years ago is yet to become a reality in many sectors of Nepali society, including the media.
Inclusive Nepali media is an important means for vibrant democratic practice ensuring human rights, gender equality, rule of law and sustainable peacebuilding. It is vital to ensure that diverse perspectives and the lived experiences of minority and marginalised groups are heard, because it will have a multiple chain effect. Inclusive media will bring out a wider range of voices, stories of suffering and grievances of different communities will be reported, which will make state actors more likely to heed and address their concerns. In the long run, this will contribute to sustainable peace in Nepal.
So how can a media environment be supported to respect the right to freedom of expression, gender equality, inclusion and peace?
Media houses have not been able to attract women into the sector due to a lack of job security, gender-friendly working environments and decent remuneration. Maternity leave is usually unpaid if granted at all. There is no precedent or pathway for a woman or member of a marginalised community becoming an editor-in-chief.
Alert research has shown that, with the right policies, the gap in representation of women and marginalised communities can be addressed. For example, the state-owned media in Nepal are more inclusive as they are obliged by government policy to ensure inclusion. With strict implementation of Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) policy, it will be possible to ensure inclusion in the private sector as well. The government could enforce rules of inclusion on the private sector, by linking media licences to inclusion policies.
Media stakeholders recognise that inclusion needs to be addressed. By capitalizing on this opportunity, Nepali media can thrive, facilitate a healthy democracy and contribute to a truly sustainable peace.
The Central African Republic experienced a brutal civil war in 2013, which killed thousands of civilians and displaced over 200,000. The war pitted Seleka’s predominantly Muslim fighters against Christian militias called “anti-balaka”, with identity based attacks amounting to acts of genocide. In recent years, French influence in the CAR, its former colony, has waned and been replaced by Russia, who’s Wagner Group has become involved in supporting the government in its fight against rebel groups. Peace News spoke to experts to understand what obstacles stand in the way of Peace in the CAR.
The M23 rebel conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo began in 2012, when a group of soldiers defected from the Congolese army. The conflict was fueled by long standing ethnic tensions and competition for control of resources in the region. The M23 rebels, who were primarily composed of ethnic Tutsis, were supported by neighboring Rwanda, who benefited from more influence in Eastern Congo The M23 rebels quickly gained control of a significant portion of the eastern DRC, including the city of Goma. The conflict led to widespread displacement of civilians and reports of human rights abuses. Peace News spoke with experts to understand the challenges peacebuilders face while trying to reduce this conflict.
