Defence & security, explained.
Who can fill these shoes? The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (Isaac Billy/UN Photo)
New field research reveals how female peacekeepers improve mission effectiveness despite persistent barriers.
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The case for women peacekeepers from those who serveThe case for women peacekeepers from those who serve
Progress on increasing women’s deployment to peace missions is mixed, and far from linear. Women’s participation in peacekeeping is growing, but the growth is slow, and numbers remain low.
Only one in ten uniformed personnel (and only 8% of troops) in UN peace operations are women. This is despite a strong global framework supporting the meaningful participation of women in UN peace operations, including the UN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, which marks its 25th anniversary this year.
Our research, funded by Global Affairs Canada as part of the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations, illustrates why challenges persist and why peacekeepers themselves believe that more women should participate in peace operations. We spoke with over 90 peacekeepers across UN peace operations in South Sudan (UNMISS), Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and Central African Republic (MINUSCA) – and a further 400+ uniformed personnel globally.
Women reported harassment, discrimination, marginalisation and androcentric policies that undermine their opportunities to deploy. Once deployed, women can face further challenges including gender-based violence, inappropriate or insufficient accommodation or resources, and sexist attitudes.
And yet, many peacekeepers told us that women’s participation has tangible benefits to peace operations, citing six core reasons.
Women peacekeepers are able to build relationships of trust and familiarity with local women in ways that are often socially and culturally difficult for men. This can generate trust between the peace operation and the local community as a whole, allow access to information around pressure points in the community that may threaten the peace, and allow a more complete understanding of community issues, including those that uniquely affect women but are not often prioritised by – predominantly male – local leaders. A male peacekeeper in MINUSCA said female peacekeepers have “changed completely the dynamics”.
Captain Atupele Mbewe from Malawi during a deployment to UNMISS, Juba, South Sudan, photographed for International Women's Day, 2021 (Gregorio Cunha/UN Photo)
Women peacekeepers are often more successful in eliciting testimony in crimes involving sexual and gender-based violence, often highly prevalent in conflict-affected environments. An UNMISS peacekeeper told us: “In my field office, the culture of the people will not permit a male to engage women on certain issues, so that if, for instance, someone has been a victim of any [sexual and gender-based violence], a woman should be the person interacting with those victims. If we do not have enough women to do that, it becomes a challenge, because the victims would not open up.”
Women peacekeepers can undertake security searches of women and children. A female police officer in MONUSCO said: “if there is a lady who has been taken into custody, my presence [in the searches] is much more soothing than the presence of a man.” Similarly, a male British military officer described deployed women as “mission critical these days … They offer a dynamic edge to the thought process that some people just wouldn’t look at. And, you know, that whole search process, for example, the chaperoning, is invaluable”.
Women peacekeepers can have a disciplinary or regulatory effect on the potential toxicity of masculine cultures within peace operations.
Echoed by many other interviewees, a female peacekeeper deployed to MONUSCO told us: “We set examples to the local people. There are women here who think that it’s okay, this rape, abduction, all these are rights of men. They used to think like that, but now, when they see us going on the ground with a weapon, now the women are understanding what their basic human rights are.”
Women peacekeepers can have a disciplinary or regulatory effect on the potential toxicity of masculine cultures within peace operations. A MINUSCA peacekeeper said: “At the beginning, we’re all men, and issues of, you know, sexual exploitation and abuse and whatever were coming up a lot”. But this changed when women joined the mission, particularly in leadership roles. Others cautioned that women peacekeepers can instead become the target of abuse and harassment.
Increasingly complex missions require talented people with diverse skillsets, demanding the creation of enabling environments for women, recognising that women have broader capabilities beyond being able to engage with local communities and address gender-based crimes. One female military general told us that women can perform and lead across all peacekeeping roles. “We can do so much more … I can hold my own and fight the men and protect the men … I can equally protect men as I can protect women.”
Ghanaian peacekeepers on parade in Bentiu, South Sudan (Gregorio Cunha/UNMISS)
Women therefore strengthen peace operations in many ways.
At a practical level, the increased participation of women engaged a previously under-utilised resource and a broader diversity of skills and knowledge.
Pragmatically, women peacekeepers can build relationships with vulnerable communities in ways that can be socially and culturally difficult for men.
Normatively, the deployment of women can demonstrate organisational commitment to gender equality, women’s leadership and gender-responsive operations. This makes a difference to mission legitimacy and peace outcomes, given the positive correlation between gender equality and peaceful societies and the importance of women’s participation to building sustainable peace.
About the authors
Katrina Lee-Koo
Katrina Lee Koo is a Professor and Head of School at the School of Political Science and International Studies at The University of Queensland.
Eleanor Gordon
Eleanor Gordon is the Director of the Global Peace and Security Research Centre at Monash University (Monash GPS).
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