Women are still underrepresented globally in all matters of society, even in the conceptualisation of ideologies that define security, peace, international relations and governance. 

SCRAP Weapons’ Feminist Leadership in Disarmament webinar series is now entering its second year with a renewed set of webinars, research and publications discussing and promoting the role of women, especially from the Global South, in matters related to disarmament. The project aims to discuss the ways in which feminism, in its different streams, has included concerns over disarmament, especially the general and complete disarmament (GCD) agenda, which SCRAP is intrinsically tied to. 

Noticing that over twenty years have passed since United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which marks the official adoption of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda at the UN, advocates for women participation in foreign policy decision-making fora globally have pointed out that WPS has often been interpreted in a way that fails to account for the exclusion of women’s voices in matters of disarmament and international security. The 2021 UN Secretary-General Report on ‘Women and Peace and Security’ (S/2021/827) has recently called for global attention to the need to reframe the WPS agenda away from liberal interpretations that encourage wider women’s participation in the military forces, urging governments to adopt a Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) agenda that enables women to effectively participate at all levels of peacemaking. 

We wish to uncover the ways in which women have been silent and silenced over disarmament issues and international security. Noticing the low number of women in the field, the ever-climbing expenses towards militarization and weapons, SCRAP Weapons’ project aims to discuss if and how women-targeted and women-empowering agendas have in fact been sensitive to their needs and showcase the efforts of women against militarization, including women in nuclear policy as well as domestic and international security. 

The project will consist of four webinars held over the span of two months, starting March 8th, on International Women’s Day. The webinars will feature speakers who have been working towards disarmament and the inclusion of feminist perspectives in security and disarmament agendas: 

1. UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Reframing the WPS Agenda 8 March 2022, 14:00 GMT 

2. Voices from Feminist Theoretical Approaches to WPS and Feminist Foreign Policy 22 March 2022, 14:00 GMT 

3. Bringing experiences from women practitioners in WPS from the Global South: how do they see the relationship between disarmament and security? 5 April 2022, 14:00 GMT 

4. Mexico: Successes and lessons learned from implementing Feminist Foreign Policy and the WPS agenda in the Global South 19 April 2022, 14:00 GMT