SEESAC Briefs the NATO Working Group on SALW and Mine Action
On September 13, SEESAC participated at the meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and Mine Action of the NATO/Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), which took place at the NATO HQ in Brussels.
On this occasion, SEESAC briefed the members of the Working Group on relevance of the UN SCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security to SALW control and Mine Action activities.
The UNSCR calls for the increased participation of women and the integration of gender perspectives into all peace and security efforts.
In addition to this, SEESAC presented its Regional Micro Disarmament Standards and Guidelines (RMDS/G) which were developed in 2007 and which provide a framework for SALW control activities in South East Europe (SEE). One of the RMDS/G chapters provides a set of specific recommendations on how to integrate gender into SALW control activities.
Women and men are affected differently by SALW. Firearm violence is almost exclusively perpetrated by men and men make up the majority of its victims. On the other hand, although women are very rarely perpetrators of firearm violence, they are often its victims.
Women in particular suffer from the use of SALW in domestic violence. (See Firearms Possession and Domestic Violence in the Western Balkans)
Mines also affect women and men differently. Women and men have different mobility patterns and women are at particular risk when they collect water and firewood in mined areas. Also, women often have the primary responsibility for the care of the family and to landmine victims. Nevertheless, disabled women are often abandoned by their partners/husbands. In many areas of the world women continue to have poorer access to health services and do not have equal access to education on mine related risks.