Armed Conflicts and the International Agenda: The Women’s Matter

Abstract

Violence against women is not a new debate and women have been organized for over a century to fight for its claims. However, its introduction as an important issue on the international agenda was recent and relied on the efforts of women’s groups. Thus, this paper aims to analyze if the movements of women since 1945 with the creation of the United Nations, influenced the incorporation of the issue of violence against women in the international system of human rights protection, especially in times of armed conflict, as well as the compliance of these guidelines by States and international organizations. The argument presented here is that only in the 1990s, with the Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs) of women and the consideration of women’s rights as a fundamental human right, was that the theme received the valuation it deserved on the international agenda. This impact also leaked to the scope of armed conflict where women are the most affected and vulnerable during war time. Thus, several rules were created in order to eliminate gender violence, and it is concluded that the main flaw remains in compliance with these guidelines, both the state and international levels.