Disarmament and gender dimension. The implementation of the women, peace and security agenda in international arms control treaties

This article examines the relationship between “disarmament and the gender dimension”, with the specific aim of assessing whether, and in what ways, a gender perspective – as promoted by the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS) – has been incorporated into the principal international arms regulation agreements. The analysis demonstrates, first and foremost, that the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325 played a fundamental role in ensuring the inclusion of gender issues within disarmament treaties – issues that had previously been entirely disregarded in arms control frameworks. At the beginning of the new millennium, explicit references to women emerged in arms regulation agreements, where they were primarily framed as victims of the unregulated use of weapons. Certain treaties, such as the 2008 Oslo Convention on Cluster Munitions and the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, for instance, contain provisions aimed at ensuring gender-sensitive assistance for the victims of such weapons. Since 2000, these instruments have also included the first provisions designed to promote women’s broader participation in international disarmament processes – as reflected, for example, in the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and in the African Conventions on the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons. This gradual incorporation of gender dimensions into disarmament treaties, spurred by Resolution 1325, reaches its current apex with the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty, which contains provisions addressing gender-based violence and has sparked a lively debate at the Conferences of States Parties. However, a critical analysis of the aforementioned instruments reveals that gender issues remain inconsistently and incidentally addressed within disarmament treaties. Hence, although substantial progress has been achieved, much remains to be done in pursuit of the full implementation of the WPS Agenda.