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Peace Movement

Peace movement is a general term commonly used to describe any social movement that seeks to end warfare and promote world peace, both on a domestic and on a global scale. Peace movement activists work to raise awareness about social injustices as well as advocate against practices such as war, racial discrimination, and violence. These movements often stand out from specific “antiwar movements” because their objectives often tend to be global and longer term rather than targeted at a specific armed conflict. Peace movement activists often articulate their purpose in terms of social transformations, such as those found in the civil rights and women's movements, rather than in terms of personal development common to self-help transformational movements. In the academic world, peace study scholars focus on a number of central issues, including how individuals act collectively to end war and how private citizens affect government peace policies.

Women and Peace Activism

Women are specifically affected by warfare due to their particular experiences of rape and forced impregnation for the purposes of ethnic cleansing, sex trafficking, and systematic violence against children and families. Given their potential roles as both victims and active agents, women occupy a unique position in peace movements and peacekeeping initiatives. On the one hand, they are perceived as victims and thus too vulnerable to directly participate in formal peacekeeping efforts. On the other hand, given their idiosyncratic experiences of war, women can be seen as powerful members of peace-building movements and energetic advocates for women's rights during conflict and subsequent postconflict rebuilding efforts.

In a process known as movement spillover, peace movement leaders often share tactics and ideologies with feminist activists, including acts such as staging peace camps at military bases, raising awareness about the connection between militarism and patriarchy, and acting as key contributors to international policy.

In the last decade, women's involvement in peace activism has risen sharply, both formally with the United Nations (UN) and in grassroots organizations. These contributions have greatly increased awareness of gendered violence in conflict-afflicted societies. Although many groups have similar goals, peace movement activism can take different forms. Today, women's activism combines both new and traditional forms, from grassroots groups in Nepal and Somalia, participation in political institutions in Kabul and Kigali, and in more traditional forms of activism such as providing services to the sick and elderly, and ensuring the survival of the family unit.

United Nations Initiatives

In 1995, the UN sponsored the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. The conference was the catalyst for a more globally conscious discussion of women's experience in war and women's activism for peace. Conference delegates drafted Chapter E (Women and Armed Conflict) of the Platform for Action, which called for an increased presence of women in peace-building projects. Delegates who worked on this project brought together women from Israel and Palestine, survivors of the Rwandan genocide and the Bosnian war, and South African peace activists.

In 2000, a groundbreaking study was launched to investigate women's roles and gender bias in global peacekeeping efforts. UN Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women Angela King spearheaded an investigative report titled “Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Multi-Dimensional Peace Support Operations.” Concentrating on previous missions in Namibia and South Africa, the project's purpose was to define and locate areas where women were specifically discriminated against in peacekeeping efforts and to recommend improvements to the procedures of the UN's Peace Operation units. Suggestions centered on the practice of gender mainstreaming, which refers to a specific initiative emphasizing women's roles in peacekeeping missions, as well as support for the equal participation of women in the expansion of peacekeeping actions around the world. Study results were finalized in the Windhoek Declaration and the Namibia Plan of Action, which were presented at the fifth anniversary review conference called the “Beijing +5 Council.” The Beijing +5 Council was held in 2000 and aimed to formally recognize women's participation in peacekeeping efforts and enhance their protection in war zones.

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