Gender and Small Arms: Moving into the Main Stream

This monograph presents an overview of how gender language is used at meetings and in documents of various United Nations (UN) fora on the topic of small arms and light weapons (SALW). The monograph begins with an overview of relevant definitions and the emergence on the global agenda of norms on SALW and gender mainstreaming at the United Nations. The authors then scan statements from official meetings and documents from the Security Council and the General Assembly from 2001-2003, as well as the 2001 SALW Conference and the Biennial Meeting of States of SALW in 2003. A list of 'gender reference indicators' is used to assess the frequency and context of references, and to evaluate points of convergence and divergence between international norms on gender and SALW. The authors conclude that UN debates on SALW do not yet address gender in the SALW context in a way that encompasses the different social, economic and political effects of these weapons on men and women. The final section of the monograph offers concluding observation and some recommendations in anticipation of the 2006 Review Conference on Small Arms and Light Weapons.