Five Steps to a Feminist Foreign Policy
Five Steps to a Feminist Foreign Policy
The Chinese have a proverb: “May you live in interesting times.” This is also meant to be a curse. How true for 2016. To the shock of many, a wave of populist backlash and economic fury led to Brexit in the U.K. and a campaign based on racism, xenophobia and fear has propelled Donald Trump to the White House. Meanwhile, we have witnessed millions of refugees seeking to escape horrific violence and oppression in their homelands and Syria has unraveled into a massacre of civilians while we watch, powerless, on social media and the world stands by without action. We indeed live in uncertain, insecure and tragic times. Today, in the United States of America, we need a feminist foreign policy more than ever.
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The U.S. has already taken some important steps to put some of the principles of feminism into action, such as the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, which recognizes – based on mounds of evidence from countries around the world — that “engagement and protection of women as agents of peace and stability will be central to the United States’ efforts to promote security, prevent, respond to and resolve conflict and rebuild societies.”
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1. Ask how American actions will affect women, men, girls and boys around the world differently.
Feminist foreign policy includes both gender parity and gender sensitivity as two core policy objectives. Increasing the opportunities of women to serve in leadership roles is an essential step, yet it is only half of the equation. Gender sensitivity requires a deeper examination of the impact of American actions on the ground and an avoidance of policies that perpetuate inequality.
2. Recognize that gender equality is central to American leadership.
Feminist foreign policy reflects an understanding that women’s roles and rights are central to the challenges we face today. Women and children are the majority of those displaced by wars and disasters. Radical ideologies view women’s rights as a threat and brutally target those who speak out. On the flipside, gender equality increases the effectiveness of peace and security strategies. According to the Global Study on 1325, when women are included, there is a 35 percent increase in the probability of a peace agreement lasting 15 years.”
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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2016/12/23/five-steps-feminist-foreign-policy/
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