Summer Reads: Sex and World Peace

We are back with our Summer Reads reviews with Sex and World Peace by Valerie M. Hudson, Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Mary Caprioli, and Chad F. Emmett. This book needs to be on the shelf of every Women, Peace and Security (WPS) practitioner, and anyone interested in learning about the linkages between state security and women’s security. Sex and World Peace turns mainstream state-centric security on its head by asking “Does the security of women matter for the security of the state?” 

Women’s insecurity is linked to state insecurity

The authors argue that the single greatest indicator for propensity of state violence is not its level of poverty or wealth, its political system, or its major religion—it is the treatment of women within society.  Research conducted by the authors shows that state security is more likely to be compromised when half of its population is vulnerable to denial of basic services such as education, nutrition, and health care, trafficking and sex-selective abortions, and inadequate legal protections for culturally condoned violence against women. Such gender inequality normalizes violence and “makes it more likely that the state will resort to violent action during interstate disputes or international crisis.”

A state cannot be considered at peace when its legal code not only neglects to protect women but actively undermines women’s rights and physical security. Saudi Arabia’s guardian laws, for example, limit women’s mobility and agency. Saudi Arabian guardian laws require women to have a male family member approve all travel and accompany them in the public sphere. This practice creates a legal and cultural condition wherein women without male guardianship in public are subject to violence and harassment. Women are held culpable for any attacks that may occur, making them double victims of violence—once from the attackers, and again by the state, as the woman's actions would be considered criminal.

The authors argue that micro-level gender violence and macro-level state peacefulness are intrinsically tied, citing the correlation between patriarchal systems and violent state behavior. This means that women’s insecurity is a domestic and foreign policy issue. Their research shows that norms of violence in society and repression of women’s participation at all levels of decision making make a state more likely to resort to warfare to secure resources or exert power, rather than engaging with diplomacy to find mutually profiting solutions. “States do go to war over oil and resources, among other things, but they are more likely to do so if the society has norms of violence rooted in gender inequality. Violence becomes an acceptable option when women are not considered equals.”

Four Pillars of WPS: Participation, Protection, Prevention, and Gender Mainstreaming

How does this research inform the Women, Peace and Security agenda? The four pillars (Participation, Protection, Prevention,  and Gender Mainstreaming ) of the Women, Peace and Security agenda make up a policy framework that reorganize global and state practices to ensure women’s leadership, voices and decision making, as well as to eliminate the unique and systemic violence they face. 

The WPS agenda is based on the concept that equality and inclusivity in leadership and policy design will create durable peace domestically and internationally. This strategy works to end the global pandemic of violence against women through the application of a gender perspective and ensuring women’s leadership in security policy making. Security policy designed by men and women for the whole population is the key to changing the mass institutionalized violence women face, as described in Sex and World Peace, as well as developing a more peaceful and stable international system.  

What can we do today?

The final chapters of Sex and World Peace contain a call to action by providing strategies on how to enact positive change to root out violence against women from the top down and bottom up.

These chapters are reflective of the creation and execution of UNSCR 1325, which was drafted and redrafted by civil society groups and for states. UNSCR 1325 is a framework for national governments to ensure that women are at all levels of decision making, as well as a guide for grassroots peacebuilders to operate on the ground level.

According to Sex and World Peace, we can make a difference. Action ranges from collaboration with men who share the goal of gender equality, to developing creative solutions on how to shift the mindset in your communities, we all can take immediate action in ending violence against women and propelling the WPS agenda.

Imagine world peace

This work is essential for making the case that the security of women matters to the security of the state.  Research conducted by Caprioli and Ballif-Spanvill found that “gender equality has an effect on state’s foreign policy behavior in terms of decreasing violence during international crisis and… higher levels of gender equality make a state less likely to threaten, display, or use force, or go to war once involved in a dispute.”  This finding supports what women have been saying for a long time:  the goal of gender equality for is not just for women—it is for the security of all of humanity.