Smart Power: Leveraging the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda
The link between women’s empowerment and successful peace processes is “incontrovertible,” said Hudson. She and her team conducted the largest ever empirical analysis of the phenomenon. They examined 166 nation state outcomes, ranging from war to population health, and found that the subjugation of women at the household level was “significantly associated” with 72 percent of negative outcomes measured. In light of these findings, incorporating women in peace processes is a necessary part of any common sense, “realist” approach to national security, said Hudson.
“For too long our understanding of war has focused only on men,” said Dr. Kathleen Kuehnast, Director of Gender Policy and Strategy at USIP, “and as a result women have often not been protected from the ravages of war…nor have they been fully empowered participants to help solve our biggest human crises when it comes to violent conflict.” Increasing women’s participation in peacebuilding is a vital step toward remedying this historical oversight.