Women, war and peace: those women who take up arms for peace

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In a world marked by conflicts, women are essential protagonists in the search for peace. This article focuses on the central role that they play in conflict resolution and the promotion of stability on a global scale. The commitment of women in peace-making processes are not only appropriate but imperatives. It underlines the urgency of letting them the place they deserve in the construction of a peaceful and stable future for all. Relying on the teachings of the tireless efforts of women from all over the world, this article offers an inspiring perspective on the essential role of women as peace-making stakeholders in our endless evolving world.

 

Introduction

“If you want speeches, ask men, if you want actions, ask women”

Extract from the documentary Les Guerrières de la paix by Hanna Assouline, 2018.

Women are at the heart of conflicts, both as victims and as peace-builders, in the face of the violence and trauma of armed conflict.

They are often the first victims of conflicts, crises and poverty, but are often little considered. In a report published on 3 February 2004, Amnesty International described difficult conditions for women in refugee camps in Chad, based on the testimony of Sudanese women refugees. According to the report, a large number of women had been raped, kidnapped and sexually trafficked in connection with a Janjaweed militia supported by the Sudanese government¹.

Crises and armed conflicts affect around 90% of the civilian population, and the majority of these victims are women or children². In many countries, women face unspeakable atrocities in the context of war: rape, sex trafficking, forced sterilisation. At all times and in all places, war and peace have only ever concerned men.

Faced with this great distress, often forgotten, groups of women around the world have decided to arm themselves in the face of conflict, to build peace. In many countries, women are organizing themselves, raising awareness in their communities and taking initiatives to promote peace. These “warriors for peace”³ are still rarely heard or seen, but their struggles throughout their countries are having a considerable impact. Over the decades, women all over the world have fought a twofold battle: to include women in the decision-making processes for peace and to have them recognised as a specific category of victims, so that the measures taken to combat gender-based violence can be adapted.

PART 1 – THE EVOLVING ROLE OF WOMEN IN ARMED CONFLICTS

The Women’s International League for peace and Freedom: women’s first involvement in armed conflicts

The involvement of women in armed conflicts at international level can be dated back to 1915, the year in which the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom was founded. That year, 1,200 women from various countries (Germany, the United States, Belgium, Hungary, Sweden and Norway) advocating peace and an end to the First World War met at the Congress in The Hague. This initiative was to introduce a new point of view on the promotion of peace and non-violence into the political debate. In 1919, the group took the definitive name of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. The League promoted peace through a variety of methods, including activism, analysis, advocacy and alliance-building. Through its actions, the League makes it possible to approach war from a different angle: that of feminism, believing that patriarchy⁴, neoliberalism⁵ and militarism⁶ are the three main causes of war. The League proposes to “create bridges and spaces for discussion so that women can play a role in the decision-making process and help build responses that affect their lives and their communities”⁷.

To build this movement, the League tries to facilitate local access to women for activism, encourages the emergence of feminist movements and tries to bring together and collaborate with peace activists and local experts in order to become a global organisation. With the aim of promoting lasting peace and an end to armed conflict, the League, through its various activities, is trying to build a dialogue, a place and a narrative that will always work in this direction. In this way, women from all over the world participate in this peace project. To achieve this, the League focuses its fight on three themes.

Firstly, the International League is campaigning for a different vision of the concept of international security. In fact, it wants to respond to this cliché and is fighting to propose real, lasting and concrete solutions to promote peace. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom rejects the idea that strength is synonymous with peace. It therefore proposes to redefine the notion of security. To achieve this, the League will first campaign for nuclear disarmament. The use of nuclear weapons can have serious consequences for the environment and individuals. For example, the bombing by a nuclear weapon of Nagasaki, a Japanese city in the north-west of the island of Kyushu, caused major damage in 1945: 74,000 people were killed, representing 60% of the city’s population⁸. The League also campaigns against the use of firearms. Indeed, although certain international texts such as the Arms Trade Treaty⁹, which came into force on 24 December 2014, are intended to limit the sale of arms between States, the latter is not decreasing. The same is true of the consequences this entails. Many countries such as the United States or France continue to sell arms to countries that do not respect the most fundamental rights. For example, according to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, between 2014 and 2018, 22% of total US arms exports went to Saudi Arabia. Finally, through various actions, the League campaigns to promote peace and “a transfer of money from war to peace in order to maintain a peace that works for everyone”¹⁰.

War is expensive, very expensive. According to a report published on 2 May 2018 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, total global military spending in 2017 was estimated at 1.7 trillion dollars¹¹. The countries that spend the most on armaments are the United States ($610 billion spent in 2017) and China ($228 billion spent in 2017). As a result, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom is campaigning for less money to be spent on conflicts that create chaos and poverty, in favour of spending on areas such as health and education to ensure social and economic security for people and thus promote lasting social peace. Instead of investing in destruction (social, health, economic), the League recommends investing in construction. It puts it this way:

“If we want peace, we must invest in inclusive participation, gender justice and human development, not bombs”.

The League’s second priority is to promote social and economic justice. To do this, it focuses on the local level, giving greater visibility to local problems in the various countries where it is active. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, for example, the Women organising for change movement brings women together to discuss different strategies for the post-conflict period¹². The League also tries to provide analyses of different situations around the world in order to highlight various issues through its work. For example, after the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, the government decided to implement a “counter-terrorism” policy with the creation of the Counter-Terrorism Committee. Faced with this decision, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom denounced the strong militarisation of security through the fight against terrorism and campaigned for other measures to be taken, geared towards prevention. The League also called for the creation of spaces conducive to women’s rights¹³. It is also trying to promote responsibility and gender justice by seeking recognition of the responsibility of States. For example, countries that manufacture and export weapons to other countries amass colossal sums of money, and therefore have no interest in stopping conflicts. The League works to ensure that governments are held accountable for their human rights abuses, even outside their borders. One of its major struggles is also to prevent conflict by trying to examine how companies can be at the root of certain conflicts and the impact of gender discrimination that the activities of these companies can have. In addition, from a feminist perspective, the League draws up a feminist analysis of economic policy in order to shed light on the systems of oppression in societies that give rise to great insecurity, inequality, exploitation and conflict. Through this feminist vision of economic policy, it tries to imagine alternatives with the aim of building a more egalitarian society based on justice, solidarity and care. Finally, the League believes that peace is not possible without ecological justice. Ecological crises disproportionately affect populations that are already vulnerable to conflict or famine, creating marginalised and often forgotten populations. This is why it has set up a working group on the environment, which focuses most of its work on the environment.

Thirdly, the League seeks to capitalise on feminist perspectives on peace. To do this, it first tries to bring together different women from all walks of life to facilitate dialogue between them on different feminist issues. To fulfil this mission, in September 2017, for example, she organised a meeting between different African activists to discuss different regional issues. In addition, to bring a feminist vision to the various global conflicts, she advocates the creation of a feminist Security Council that would look at the issues affecting women and come up with appropriate solutions.

So, in the League’s view, peace is not just desirable, but necessary, because war brings devastation to society as a whole, causing losses for everyone. Peace-building is a process in which we must all invest (governments as well as citizens), since it benefits us all. Christiane Taubira put it this way in a lecture given on 21 March 2017 at the University of Nantes:

“We cannot talk about peace in the world if we do not ask ourselves how peace is built. Peace can be built without war, before war and not after war. We can only build peace if we are prepared to accept all the diversity and complexity of the world. It means making ourselves available to the world.”¹⁴.

The League makes it possible to democratise an essential issue: the place and role of women in armed conflicts. As mentioned above, women are particularly exposed in armed conflicts and before the Hague Congress had no opportunity to make their voices heard. Through its creation, the League gave women the opportunity to have an impact on decisions concerning war and armed conflict. Since 1915, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom has grown in many countries, developing its impact and its struggles against war, violence and armed conflict. Through its various struggles, it has paved the way for other women’s movements against war and the violence it engenders.

The Beijing Platform for Action: an ambition for a more equal world? 

An historical conference

In September 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women, entitled “The Struggle for Development, Equality and Peace”, was held in Beijing, China, following three conferences in Mexico in 1975, Copenhagen in 1980 and Nairobi in 1985. The conference brought together 17,000 participants and 30,000 activists from all over the world. The conference addressed a number of issues, including human rights, women and poverty, women and decision-making power and violence against women¹⁵. After two weeks of debate involving 189 countries, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were adopted, marking a major step forward for women’s rights¹⁶.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were a real step forward, uniting thousands of feminist activists worldwide on the basis of political agreements reached at the first three World Conferences on Women. To ensure gender equality, more than 6,000 government delegates took part in the negotiations, alongside more than 4,000 accredited NGO representatives¹⁷.

In its application, the various governments have adopted measures to improve the status of women in line with the Beijing Platform for Action. As a result, women and girls have access to political responsibilities and are protected by laws against gender-based violence. Moreover, for the first time, gender equality is constitutionally guaranteed in many countries¹⁸.

Controversial implementation of the action plan

However, no country has implemented gender equality, despite the fact that it is enshrined in the Programme. There are clear examples of persistent inequalities: women are still paid less than men and the majority of them have less qualified jobs. One third of women are victims of sexual violence at some point in their lives, and “every day around the world, 800 women die in childbirth because of inequalities in reproductive rights and access to healthcare”¹⁹.

The ambition of the Beijing Platform for Action is to create a programme for the empowerment of women by setting strategic objectives and actions in 12 areas: women and poverty, women’s education and training, women and health, violence against women, women and armed conflict, women and the economy, women and decision-making, institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, women’s human rights, women and the media, women and the environment, and girls²⁰.

This charter was a real step forward for women as victims of war and conflict. Since the adoption of the action plan by 189 countries, the United Nations Security Commission has assessed the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action at its 23rd session in 2000, its 49th session in 2005, its 54th session in 2015 and its 64th session in 2020. At these sessions, the members of the Commission were able to adopt new effective measures to implement the Programme, commit to continuing efforts in the field of gender equality, and adopt declarations welcoming progress in the field of equality. In 2015, for example, the Commission held its session. The Commission was able to review the 20 years of the Beijing Platform for Action. Gender issues and the empowerment of women were discussed. At the end of this session, the States adopted a political declaration, providing a solid basis for the full implementation of the various commitments made in favour of equality and the empowerment of women since the Beijing Platform for Action.

Resolution 1325: a step forward for women in armed conflicts? 

Resolution 1325

The systematic violence suffered by women during wars has long remained silent or marginalised from the point of view of international institutions. In the 2000s, 70% of the victims of non-combatant conflicts were women or young girls²¹. For example, during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, around 500,000 women were raped²².

In 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, which profoundly changed the vision and place of women as victims and as agents of change and peace-building. The Council was concerned about the number of civilian victims of these conflicts and considered the adoption of this resolution to be an essential step towards peace.

The Resolution requires States to give women a prominent place in decision-making and to ensure greater representation in conflict resolution and prevention. The resolution also calls on the various armed groups to protect women and girls, a vulnerable population, and to allow women to take part in the conflict resolution process. This resolution provides a global approach to the place of women in world conflicts and expects States to take equitable decisions and take account of women’s needs²³.

With Resolution 1325, the United Nations Security Council recognised for the first time the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and children, and acknowledged the central role of women in conflict resolution and prevention.

The consequences

Resolution 1325 was undoubtedly one of the most important decisions of the United Nations Security Council concerning the rights of women in armed conflicts. It has enabled a great deal of progress to be made, but some actors on the international scene still have doubts about its effectiveness.

The positive advances of Resolution 1325

Thanks to the adoption of this resolution, women’s rights and the involvement of women in conflict resolution and prevention have made considerable progress, reinforced by six other Security Council resolutions²⁴.

In addition, the 1998 Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court addresses the position of women during armed conflicts by drawing up an exhaustive list of war crimes against women. Before the adoption of Resolution 1325, 11% of peace agreements referred to women, compared with 26% after its adoption²⁵. In addition, the number of women in positions of responsibility within the UN has increased, as has bilateral aid to fragile states focusing on gender equality, which has quadrupled²⁶.

The critics

According to the head of UN Women, in a 2015 report, “there remains an overwhelming gap between the ambition of our commitments and the reality of political and financial support”. The report points to persistent inequalities despite the adoption of this resolution²⁷:

• Prosecutions of perpetrators of violence are still few and far between, especially at national level.
• A study of 31 peace processes between 1992 and 2011 showed that only 9% of negotiators were women. Furthermore, only 3% of military personnel in UN operations are women, and most of these are assigned to support functions.
• The number of States that have adopted the resolution remains limited, and it is rarely accompanied by appropriate implementation mechanisms or funding.
• Despite the increase in aid to fragile states on gender issues, this represents only 6% of total aid, and only 2% of this amount is dedicated specifically to peace and security²⁸.

Prospects for the future

The resolution made a great deal of progress on women’s rights and their involvement in the conflict prevention and resolution process. However, much remains to be done. The UN recommends several solutions to continue to advance the rights and position of women²⁹ :

“International recognition of violations of women’s bodies and of women during conflicts; Permanent renewal of the commitments of the United Nations Security Council to ensure that the perpetrators of crimes are held accountable for their actions; Guaranteeing women’s access to education and professional training so that they can become “peacemakers”; Supporting women “peacebuilders” in the face of the rise of extremism, respecting their autonomy and providing them with financial support; Favouring conflict prevention over the use of force: The report recommends short-term measures such as early warning systems, but also policies to combat the structural causes of conflict (social exclusion, discrimination, etc.). Confronting the obstacles to the effective participation of women in peace and reconstruction processes. Often, women’s participation is only temporary or symbolic. Women’s capacity for influence can also be limited by deeply rooted cultural norms.”³⁰

The UN concludes its recommendations by explaining that :

“Women must also seize the opportunity to guide reconciliation and peacekeeping processes. Their full participation in conflict prevention and management, peace-building and humanitarian disaster management will contribute to democracy and strengthen respect for human rights and development. Many women’s organisations are ready to take up the challenge, but they need national and international support”³¹ .

This resolution has been a real driving force for the advancement of women’s rights, but there is still a great deal of progress to be made to ensure its real and effective application.

Why involve women in the peace process? 

Slow progress in the role of women in conflicts

Although advances such as the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) and Resolution 1325 (2000) have improved respect for women’s rights, led to the adoption of specific measures and strengthened their role in conflict prevention and resolution, inequalities affecting women in conflict situations remain.

Firstly, as actors, women are still invisible in the peace process. Between 1992 and 2018, only 13% of negotiators, 3% of mediators and 4% of signatories to major peace processes were women³².

Moreover, women still account for most of the victims of conflict today. In Syria, for example, between 2001 and 2011, the number of women on the labour market halved and wage discrimination increased. Women living in Yemen account for 75% of internally displaced persons and are more exposed to poverty and sexual violence. Since 2014, gender-based violence has increased by 63%. In Sudan, 73% of young girls do not go to school because of early marriage. The child marriage rate is 71%, 10% of whom are under the age of 15, and sometimes 12³³.

The vital role of women in the peace process

Even outside the negotiating tables of the major international bodies, women are essential at local level to help build peace. They are in daily contact with the most vulnerable populations affected by poverty: they help children, help rebuild social links and constantly defend their rights to education, emancipation and their freedoms. Women often take action at local level to try to build dialogue and improve the situation of the most disadvantaged³⁴.

At international level, it is important for decision-making processes to integrate gender issues and women’s voices in order to better target issues specific to women (education, access to health, emancipation, sexual violence). An inclusive approach is essential, as it enables the most vulnerable populations to be targeted directly and not overlooked. A study shows that involving women in peace agreements increases the chances of the agreement lasting 35%³⁵. Including women, who make up half of humanity and are the first victims of war, is essential. Research shows that gender equality is the best indicator for guaranteeing peace³⁶.

Over the years, women around the world have organised themselves and shown that they can take part in the peace-building process, and that this is not only desirable but essential. For example, in 2014, at the time of the peace agreement between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a third of the negotiators were women and the majority of the bodies involved in the peace process were made up of women.

PART 2 – AN EXAMPLE OF WOMEN FIGHTING FOR PEACE: WOMEN WAGE PEACE

“Peace is not a utopia, it is the necessary basis for both peoples to live in this place, in security and freedom”. 

Women Wage Peace³⁷

Background and origin of the movement

Women that everything opposes, both of their countries are in a conflict on the geopolitical and religious ground, Palestine and Israel. On both sides, the consequences of the conflict can be felt and women are the first victims. Thus, women from all political edges united in order to open a way to dialogue to put an end to the conflict. Women Wage Peace is a women-led movement founded in Israel after the Gaza War of 2014. It is not the only nor the first women’s peace movement to emerge in the Middle East. The movement brings together Israeli and Palestinian women who define themselves as “women of peace”. These women are convinced that solidarity can lead to lasting peace. They act on the international scene and participate in the integration of women in order to promote peace³⁸. The movement is composed of “thousands of women wanting to influence the public and political scene”. Women Wage Peace never clearly expressed its position on the geopolitical conflict’s solution (creation of an only State for Palestine and Israel o a two-States solution).

The impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on women and girls

There are three categories of civilians involved in the conflict: the Israeli population, the Palestinian population living in Israel, citizens of Israel and the Palestinian population living in the occupied territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip), in Palestine³⁹.

Since 1948, Palestinian women have been constantly humiliated. A Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor report published in 2014, Falaise des Fleurs, describe the violence experienced by Palestinian women during the Gaza War of 2014: 489 Palestinian women were allegedly raped by the Israeli army. The confrontations of the recent years would have also left 11 314 women homeless, deepening their precarious situation⁴⁰.

These aggressions are a violation of both international humanitarian right and international criminal law, especially of the Geneva Convention of 1949 and its additional Protocols. Particularly, a violation of the Additional Protocol of 1977 which states in article 76 that “Women shall be the object of special respect”. Article 17 underlines the necessity to transfer pregnant women out of sieged places. In spite of these agreements, Israel still commits violation against the Palestinians and especially against the women⁴¹.

The conflict has a harmful impact on women’s condition in the family circle. A study led in Gaza by the Women’s Emancipation Project revealed that about 60% of the women asked suffered physical or verbal violence within their family circle⁴². It demonstrates that the majority of women who were mistreated while living in their parents-in-law’s home, did not suffer any further violence after moving in a separate housing with their husband and children⁴³. Palestinian women do not usually have the courage to speak about the violence that they endure, since the existing laws do not protect the victims of domestic violence, and they sometimes even encourage it. The Palestinian legal system is complex. Before 1996, the laws in effect were directly inherited from England, Israel, the Ottoman Empire, Jordan of Egypt. In 1996, the Palestinians have had for the first time the possibility to change these laws, but the Palestinian Parliament did not have the ambition to better women’s condition and the discrimination that they endure within their families⁴⁴. Thus, the applicable laws are not protecting women and leave them in a difficult situation, even dangerous for their lives. For example: 

• Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code, which deals with crimes related to “family honour”, provides for exemption from prosecution or a reduced sentence for a man who kills or injures his wife or a close relative accused of defiling family honour.
• Article 408 of the Jordanian Penal Code provides for prosecution to be dropped if the rapist marries his victim.
• Articles 285 and 296 of the same Code provides that complaints for violence or ill-treatment of young girls can only be filed by a male parent.

Thus, conflicts worsened violence and discriminations against Palestinian women by making them even more vulnerable and less protected victims.

Organisation and fights for peace

Women Wage of Peace carry out various actions in order to fight against war violence that affects more particularly women. The movement experienced a publicity coup in 2016. That year, the March for Peace occurred and reunited around 3000 Palestinian and Israeli women in Jerusalem in front of the Israeli Prime Minister’s residence. During this march, women asked for a peaceful future for them, their children and their grandchildren. They also did specific demands to the Prime Minister⁴⁵, such as: 

• Establish a government office for peace and reconciliation;
• Establish a Ministry of Peace to develop a strategic plan for peace, which would report publicly each month on its progress;
• Establish a Peace Department within the Prime Minister’s Office to deal with crisis situations through political means;
• Include women in all government bodies and relevant teams, as required by UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

Therefore, through this action, the movement hopes to alert and highlight the tragedies caused by war and hope that a process for a durable peace between Israel and Palestine be implemented by also integrating women in the decision-making process.

CONCLUSION

All of these women movements establish themselves as necessary movements. For these women, it is not a utopian dream: it is either peace or death. Indeed, peace being a long process of collaboration, listening and understanding of challenges, cannot be built in times of war and violence. Armed conflicts affect everyone, therefore, the peace process should not be a matter for the political elite to decide or not to decide. Everyone must be included in the process. These women suggest recommendations both locally and on the international scene to try to achieve an inclusive and durable peace.

In light of this article, it is important to remember that women occupy a dual position within the conflict both as victims and players in peace construction, which represent a dual challenge to take up. Women have for example fought to be recognised as a specific category, which is essential in order to find adequate solutions to their sufferings.

Moreover, women worldwide try to act in order to open the dialogue on conflict prevention and resolution, especially by trying to ensure that the responsibility of States is recognised, so that they show courage and honesty towards the human rights that they pretend to defend. Thus, to keep moving forwards and towards a world more “solvent”, equalitarian and fairer, including women in decision-making processes and international bodies is a necessity to ensure that throughout the world, fundamental rights are respected. 

RECOMMENDATIONS

To implement a durable and inclusive peace, it is imperative to adopt concrete policies and actions aiming to integrate completely women in peace and conflicts resolution processes.

• Governments and international organisations need to establish quotas for the representation of women in decision-making bodies and peace negotiations, to guarantee an equal participation.
• Establish and reinforce mechanisms of women’s right protection in times of conflicts, by putting an emphasis on prevention and sanctions of gender violence.
• Recognise and support the mediation and feminine diplomacy, by offering training and opportunities for commitment, reinforcing their role in the search for pacific solutions.
• Establish follow-up and evaluation mechanisms to measure the impact of policies and actions implemented, to adjust approaches according to needs and realities in the field.
• Favouring international cooperation by creating exchange forums of good practices between nations.
• Investing in women and girls education, by implementing schooling programs adapted to local needs, in order to favour their active participation and their leadership in the peace-making efforts.
• Supporting financially and technically local and communitarian initiatives led by women, to contribute to durable and adapted to specifics contexts solutions.
• Promote awareness through educational programmes and awareness campaigns to help create a culture of peace within communities and societies.
• Allocate specific funds for women-led projects in the field of peace and post-conflict reconstruction to give concrete expression to their commitment and focus on the recovery of affected communities. 

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Nations unies. (2017). Les conflits armés et les femmes – La résolution 1325 du consiel de sécurité : dix ans d’existence. [online]. Available at:https://www.un.org/fr/chronicle/article/les-conflits-armes-et-le-femmes-la-resolution-1325-du-conseil-de-securite-dix-ans-dexistence [Accessed 21 aug. 2022].

Nations unies. (2020). Pourquoi est-il crutial d’inclure les femmes dans les processus de paix. [online]. Available at: https://www.onufemmes.fr/nos-actualites/2020/9/28/pourquoi-est-il-crucial-dinclure-les-femmes-dans-les-processus-de-paix [Accessed 21 aug. 2022].

Oxfam. (2022). Les droits des femmes, premières vicitmes des conflits. [online] Available at: https://www.oxfam.org/fr/les-droits-des-femmes-premieres-victimes-des-conflits [Accessed 21 aug. 2022].

Small Arms survey. (2020). The Small arms trade transparency Barometer. [online]. Available at: https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/database/small-arms-trade-transparency-barometer. [Accessed 21 aug. 2022].

Statista. (2021). Le bilan humain du conflit israelo palestinien. [online]. Available at: https://fr.statista.com/infographie/24851/bilan-humain-conflit-israelo-palestinien-nombre-de-morts-et-de-blesses/ [Accessed 21 aug. 2022].

Wikigender. (2015). La résolution 1325 du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies. [online].Available at: https://www.wikigender.org/fr/wiki/la-resolution-1325-du-conseil-de-securite-des-nations-unies/ [Accessed 21 aug. 2022].

Women Wage Peace. (2022) rubrique A propos du mouvement. [online]. Available at: https://www.womenwagepeace.org.il/en/about/ [Accessed 21 aug. 2022].

YNET News. (2019)? Palestinian women protest in Ramallah after suspected horror killing. [online]. Available at: https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5580286,00.html [Accessed 27 sept. 2023].

Interview 

BADIE, B. (2018). Le Crépuscule Des Grandes Puissances. Le Média. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2UdRGzvcdg&t=1520s [Accessed 21 aug. 2022].

Reports

Euromedrights. (2014). Le droit des femmes palestiniennes dans les relations UE-Israël et UE-Autorité Palestine. [online]. Available at: https://euromedrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/FR_AdvPaper-On-PalWomen_06MAR2014_WEB.pdf [Accessed 23 aug. 2022].

Women Wage Peace. (2017). Objectifs, Stratégie et plan d’action pour 2017, rapport du mouvement Women Wage Peace. [online]. Available at: https://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/Women%20Wage%20Peace.pdf [Accessed 23 aug. 2022].

Abu Dayyeh Shamas, M. (2001). The Second Palestinian Intifada: Social and Psychological Implications for Palestinian Women Resulting from the Israeli Escalation of Violence. [online]. Available at : https://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/vaw_thesecond_palestinianintifada_2001_0.pdf [Accessed 23 aug. 2022].

Legal Text

Nations unies. (2013). Traité sur le commerce des armes. [online]. Available at: https://thearmstradetreaty.org/hyper-images/file/Traitesurlecommercedesarmes/Traitesurlecommercedesarmes.pdf?templateId=137262 [Accessed 21 aug. 2022].

Video

TAUBIRA. C. (2017). Nous habitons la Terre. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjHuhEoI3wU&t=2219s [Accessed 21 aug. 2022].

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Marie Chapot, Elvire Alexandrowics, Vannina Bozzi-Robadey and Marine Lambotte for their proofreading work.

Image/Picture: Women, Peace, & Security IVLP, 10 sept. 2014, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Translated by Samantha Frary–Aubert and Solange Meurier

To quote the article :

TOURE, A. (2023). Women, war and peace: those women who take up arms for peace. Generation for Rights Over the World. growthinktank.org. [online] Dec. 2023.