Small Arms

Women, War, Peace and Small Arms

 

Introduction

Small arms deeply affect women because women and other civilians are the disproportionate victims of conflict, the presence of small arms interferes with the provision of basic needs and, women are playing greater roles in peace-building and peace-making operations. In wars and communities saturated with weapons, such arms are used to terrorize women and empower armed individuals and gangs to commit heinous crimes directed specifically at women. Women are often forced to endure rape and other sexual abuse and violence, as well as abductions and forced slavery, including prostitution at the point of a gun.

Prolific small arms and light weapons (SALW) increases the threat of intimidation and abuse of women and heightens the lethality of gender-based violence, both inside and outside the home. Women in refugee and IDP camps are routinely gang raped and abused. After a conflict, small arms may become instruments for other forms of violence, such as crime and banditry, disruption of economic or foreign aid, and interference with efforts to deliver food, medicine, and supplies to people in dire need of relief.

Refugees are often afraid to return to their homes because of the large number of weapons still in the hands of the population. With the adult male population greatly diminished, women often become the main provider for their devastated families during and after a conflict. The presence of small arms makes this task increasingly difficult. In post-conflict societies today, women are playing a greater role than ever before in the peacekeeping and peace-making process. For example, women are integral to reintegration and rehabilitation projects for former combatants. Women manage the consequences of small arms proliferation on a daily basis. Women must be included in all aspects of a society's post-conflict reconstruction process and their special needs - psychological, social, and economic - addressed. more... Gender-based violence is made more likely, and more severe, when SALW are readily available.

Small arms have a particular impact on men as well. In fact, men make up the majority of victims of SALW. This fact highlights the gendered nature of small arms. They impact men and women in fundamentally different ways. Men are much more likely to be killed and injured by guns; men are more likely to kill and maim with guns. However, women make up a greater proportion of gun victims in relation to their proportion of gun owners and uses. more...  Gun ownership is often closely related to conceptions of masculinity in society where SALW and gun violence is pervasive. In some cultures, boys receive guns as a part of coming of age rites. According to a 2003 report published by Amnesty International and Oxfam International, entitled Shattered Lives, “the power of guns is inextricably linked with the notion of masculinity in both industrialized and traditional cultures.The power of guns is both symbolic and actual.” Furthermore, the glamourization of gun violence in conjunction with hyper masculinity has spread to many conflict zones and influences the way young men see themselves in the context of ongoing fighting, poverty and despair. Nonetheless, women also can play roles that are conducive to SALW proliferation by smuggling, arming themselves and encouraging their men to arm.

Key Terms

Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW): Small arms and light weapons are used by all armed forces, including internal security forces for, inter alia, self-protection or self-defence, close or short-range combat, direct or indirect fire, and against tanks or aircraft at relatively short distances. Broadly speaking, small arms are those designed for personal use and light weapons are those designed for use by several persons serving as a crew. While small arms and light weapons are designed for use by armed forces, they have unique characteristics that are also of particular advantage for irregular warfare or terrorist and criminal action. 

  • Small arms: revolvers and self-loading pistols; rifles and carbines; sub-machine-guns; assault rifles; light machine-guns
  • Light Weapons: heavy machine-guns; hand held, under-barrel and mounted grenade launchers; portal anti-aircraft guns; portable anti-tank guns and recoilless rifles; portable launchers of anti-tank missile and rocket systems; portable launchers of anti-aircraft missile systems; mortars of calibres of less than 100mm
  • Ammunition and explosives: cartridges (rounds) for small arms; shells and missiles for light weapons; anti-personnel and tank grenades; landmines; mobile containers with middles or shells for single-action anti-aircraft and anti-tank systems; explosives.

    Report of the Secretary-General on the Methods of Destruction of SALW, Ammunition and Explosives. 15 November 2000 more...

Arms Transfers: Arms transfers include all forms of movements, including aid and free gifts, in addition to commercial sales, brokered sales and licensed production.

Arms Brokering: Arms brokering includes activities designed to facilitate or arrange or conclude an arms deal. It is also used to refer to those supplying transportation and financial services to complete an arms deal.

Marking and tracing: According to Small Arms Survey 2003, at the first UN Conference on SALW, “ninety-five states advocated marking weapons in order to determine the origin of, and transfer routes taken by, small arms thus preventing their diversion from legal to illicit markets.

International Organizations & Instruments

UNIFEM Action & Analysis

UNIFEM has been actively involved in raising awareness and contributing to policy development about the ownership of small arms in conflict, and post conflict areas around the world, and the effect of small arms violence in conflict on women. Efforts include:

  • Contribution to the development of Guidelines for gender mainstreaming for the effective implementation of the UN Small Arms & Light Weapons PoA
  • Development of a presentation for National Focal Points on gendermainstreaming in the implementation of the Programme of Action
  • Contributing to the inter-agency report and statement, and highlighting the disparate impact of SALW proliferation on women through an exhibition at the Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eliminate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. 
  • Facilitating the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) Women’s Network exhibit, which brought further attention to the issue of women and small arms.
  • Supporting the IANSA Women’s Network planning sessions, helping the various NGO actors to consolidate their platform and launch a campaign hinged on the second Biennial Meeting in 2005.
  • Lobbying several Member States to make statements emphasizing women’s roles in peace building, grassroots disarmament efforts and community education.
  • Working in conjunction with UNDP in Gramsh , Albania , to reduce the number of illicit arms in civilian hands following unrest and disturbances in the late 1990’s. Some of the activities of the project included a workshop that provided training to NGOs and political representatives who discussed and developed strategies for weapons collection; Capacity building workshops for civil society leaders; and poster sessions and a live call in-radio programme.

  • As a result of some of the UNIFEM initiatives on small arms, a stakeholder’s survey conducted clearly indicated that 62% of respondents believed that women have influenced their families’ decision to surrender weapons.

Tools & Checklists

UN Resources

Independent Experts' Assessment & Recommendations 

The Independent Experts' Assessment on Women, War, Peace and Small Arms and the accompanying recommendations can be accessed in this archive: Small Arms Archive