Grappling with a Weapon: The Politics and Policies of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence at the United Nations Security council | By Kerry F. Crawford

By: WIIS Member Inaara Ali

This paper emphasizes the urgent need for the United Nations (UN) to integrate gender-based violence (GBV) considerations into arms control policies, promote women’s participation in disarmament processes, and develop improved gender-sensitive monitoring mechanisms for arms control initiatives. GBV is often exacerbated by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW). Despite efforts through the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), and the UN Program of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PoA), gender-sensitive approaches to arms control remain underdeveloped. This paper recommends increasing women’s participation in arms control negotiations and applying existing methods of monitoring in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to a global scale. Implementing these changes will strengthen global efforts to reduce GBV, support sustainable development, and promote gender equality worldwide. 

Recent Gender-based Violence Dynamics

GBV is a global security issue that affects millions of women and girls worldwide.¹ According to the United Nations, GBV can include “sexual, physical, mental and economic harm inflicted in public or in private,” including “threats of violence, coercion and manipulation,” as well as “intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation and so-called ‘honour crimes.’”² According to UN Women, one in three women and girls are at risk of experiencing such physical or sexual violence during their lifetime.³

Research shows that failing to involve women in economic, political, and other aspects of society can lead to stagnation in progress.⁴ Allowing GBV to persist will worsen gender inequalities, hinder societal development, and inflict significant harm on individuals. GBV causes both physical and psychological trauma, as rape and sexual assault can lead to unwanted pregnancies, complications during pregnancy and birth, and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.⁵ 

In addition to physical harm, the social and economic repercussions of GBV often result in the loss of livelihoods for survivors and increased gender inequalities in the long term.⁶ Moreover, reporting or seeking services for GBV can expose survivors to further violence, social stigma, and ostracization. GBV also serves as a major barrier for women and girls trying to access other lifesaving services, such as food, shelter, and healthcare.⁷ The most tragic consequence of gender-based violence is femicide, with an estimated 51,100 women falling victim to this extreme form of violence in 2023 alone.⁸

The proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) has been shown to correlate with the rise in GBV, and increased access to firearms makes femicide more likely. Specifically, an increase of SALW in a country increases the likelihood of conflict violence, which then creates the conditions that facilitate CRSV.⁹ In the U.S., over two-thirds of all intimate partner homicides of women are committed with guns.¹⁰ Research conducted across four African countries reveals 70 to 90 percent of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) incidents involve the use of firearms.¹¹ Firearms function also as a mechanism to establish power through coercing, threatening, and dominating victims.¹² Arms control is thus a necessary step toward reducing GBV and must be a focus of the international community. 

Evolution of Gender-Sensitive Arms Control Policy 

The recognition of the link between GBV and arms control evolved alongside broader efforts to understand the intersection of women and security in global discourse. In 2000, the UN Security Council established the WPS Agenda through Resolution 1325, which emphasized the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and girls.¹³ This groundbreaking resolution called for the increased participation of women in peace and security processes and the incorporation of a gender perspective in conflict prevention, resolution, and peacebuilding efforts. Additionally, it set the stage for future actions that would address the gendered dimensions of conflict and arms control. 

In 2001, the UN launched the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA) to combat the widespread proliferation of SALW.¹⁴ This policy instrument aimed to prevent the illicit trade of SALW, improve transparency among arms transfers, and strengthen international cooperation regarding stockpile management and weapons tracing. The PoA encouraged regional and international arms control efforts and sought to strengthen national regulations on arms transfers, with an emphasis on marking and tracing weapons traded internationally.¹⁵

The PoA  struggled to integrate gender-sensitive measures into arms control frameworks. Although the program acknowledged the impact of arms on civilians, including women and children, it did not fully address the gendered implications of small arms proliferation, especially in relation to GBV. Recognizing this gap, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) launched a Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan in 2003 to emphasize the importance of understanding the different impacts of weapons, including small arms, on men and women in disarmament efforts.¹⁶ However, concrete steps to address GBV remained limited in the broader framework. In 2010, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 65/69 on women, disarmament, nonproliferation, and arms control. This resolution encouraged member states, regional organizations, and the UN itself to promote the equitable representation of women in decision-making processes related to disarmament and arms control.¹⁷ Importantly, Resolution 65/69 recognized the critical contributions of women at local, national, and regional levels in efforts to mitigate the effects of small arms proliferation. 

The 2012 PoA Review Conference marked a turning point in the integration of gender-sensitive measures, as the international community began to focus on the gendered impacts of arms proliferation. Member states expressed grave concern about the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of its disproportionate effects on vulnerable populations such as women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Furthermore, states underscored the importance of increasing women’s roles in policy making related to the illicit arms trade and pledged to explore ways to reduce the harm that SALW causes to women.¹⁸

In 2013, another major milestone was achieved with the ratification of the ATT, the first international treaty to formally acknowledge the link between GBV and arms control.¹⁹ The ATT became the first legally binding agreement to regulate the global trade in conventional arms, including small arms and light weapons. A key provision in the treaty, Article 7(4), mandates that states assess the risk that arms transfers might facilitate or contribute to GBV before authorizing any export.²⁰ This provision aimed to prevent the transfer of arms to states or groups where there was a high likelihood of those weapons being used to perpetrate GBV or CRSV. 

Further reinforcing this commitment, in 2018, during the 3rd Review Conference of the PoA, states reaffirmed their previous pledges to address the gendered dimensions of small arms proliferation. They acknowledged the direct connection between the illicit trade in small arms and GBV, emphasizing the need to collect sex-disaggregated data to better understand the varying impacts of arms on different genders.²¹ States also pushed for the integration of gender mainstreaming into policies and programs aimed at combating the illicit trade in small arms. That same year, the Latvian Presidency of the Arms Trade Treaty made gender and GBV a central theme of its leadership.²² They pushed the ATT group to focus on three primary objectives: 

• Ensuring gender-balanced representation in ATT-related decision-making processes,
• Addressing the gendered impacts of armed violence and conflict, 
• Ensuring the implementation of GBV-related risk assessments in accordance with the treaty’s provisions. 

These efforts represent the continued determination of ATT members to improve the support for GBV prevention through the treaty’s implementation. In fact, the implementation of Article 7(4) of the ATT is still in progress. While there is a lack of reporting from many countries on its impacts, there are early signs of its successes. A majority of states party to the ATT “have indicated GBV as a concern that they are already applying prior to authorizing an export.”²³ This shows that many states have developed specific risk assessment procedures relating to GBV since the treaty’s ratification. 

The WPS Agenda and Arms Control

The linkage between arms control and GBV is not explicitly included in the WPS agenda, despite it being the basis of the international community’s work and understanding of gender and security. Initially, feminist advocates emphasized women’s vital agency in conflict prevention and the role of disarmament in ending conflict, but these calls were largely excluded from the agenda.²⁴ The absence of specific provisions for arms control or disarmament in the WPS framework has limited its scope, particularly in addressing how arms proliferation fuels GBV in conflict settings. While some later WPS resolutions, such as Resolution 2122 (2013), referenced the Arms Trade Treaty and its potential to reduce violence against women and girls, formal references to disarmament remain sparse, and the broader issue of arms control is only acknowledged in preambular language rather than in actionable provisions.²⁵ Therefore, while the WPS agenda is crucial for promoting gender equality in peace and security, the framework has not adequately integrated arms control as a central component in the fight against GBV. 

However, inspired by the WPS agenda, the UNODA has taken significant steps to continue implementing gender in its work. Between 2019 and 2022, the UNODA implemented a global project to advance gender-responsive policies and actions in the fight against small arms trafficking and misuse, in alignment with the WPS agenda.²⁶ Funded by the European Union, this initiative aimed to enhance the effectiveness of SALW control by promoting a gender-sensitive framework and encouraging the participation of women in all arms control decision-making processes. 

Through this project, UNODA worked to support the full implementation of the PoA on SALW, and contributed to achieving the objectives of the WPS agenda, as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly Goals 5 (gender equality) and 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions).²⁷ UNODA’s efforts during this period included the development of training materials on gender-mainstreaming in small arms control, the facilitation of regional dialogues, and the provision of assistance to eighteen countries to integrate gender perspectives into their national arms control policies. By strengthening civil society engagement and fostering partnerships with organizations such as the International Action Network on Small Arms, UNODA has played a crucial role in raising awareness of the link between small arms proliferation and GBV.²⁸

Policy Implementation Strengths and Limitations

As a whole, the international community has proven an interest in supporting additional GBV prevention. Between 2022 and 2023, total financial commitments on GBV increased from $976 million to $5.1 billion, with 40% of commitments coming from UN member states.²⁹ Increased funding will allow the UN and NGOs to apply more focus to intersecting issues like SALW. Arms control on its own has also received an increased interest from the UN. The 2024 Review Conference of the POA on SALW marked a paradigm shift toward prevention and violence reduction efforts focused on the demand side, which will better incorporate GBV issues.³⁰

Despite the successes in international recognition of the issues and funding toward preventing GBV, there have been obstacles to implementation of the ATT. Specifically, the implementation of Article 7(4) has been inconsistent, especially in countries with the highest levels of GBV.³¹ While international funding for GBV efforts has improved, backlash against women’s rights has been triggered worldwide by economic instability, global conflict, and the COVID-19 pandemic.³² In many countries facing high rates of GBV, governments and society impose strict gender norms on women, putting shame on women for reporting GBV and discouraging programs that support female autonomy.³³ 

The backlash against women’s rights is also present in countries like the United States and some EU members, who are expected to fund and support ATT implementation. Under the Trump Administration, the U.S. has focused on slashing funding for international aid and gender-based programs.³⁴ As a permanent Security Council member, the U.S. has the power to block attempts to implement new arms control strategies. These setbacks in gender-inclusive policy threaten to block meaningful GBV prevention. Consequently, the international community must continue to promote women’s voices. 

Recommendations

The UN Secretary-General should make combating GBV through arms control a priority in the agendas of decision- making bodies of the UN. The UN has a unique ability to set global norms and establish effective procedures that can guide states. This norm-setting power is particularly important for states that do not already have gender mainstreaming frameworks that address arms proliferation. The UN can introduce essential procedures that prioritize gender-sensitive arms control, ensuring states are held accountable for the role their arms trade plays in fueling violence against women and girls. 

While the UN recognizes the link between arms proliferation and GBV in both policy and statements, the inconsistent enforcement of these measures undermines global efforts to prevent such violence. Strengthening the implementation of gender-sensitive arms control provisions, such as those in the the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), would reinforce the UN’s commitment to gender equality and enhance the broader WPS agenda, fostering a stronger global response to the root causes of GBV. 

Including WPS Advisors in Arms Control Delegations

Women remain underrepresented in arms control negotiations, resulting in critical issues like GBV and CRSV being marginalized in decision-making processes. Without a strong participation of women, issues like GBV and CRSV are often left out of discussion.³⁵ Research has demonstrated that when countries send a single representative, they typically select a male delegate, often sidelining the unique gendered impacts of arms proliferation.³⁶

To address this, the UN Secretary-General should mandate that WPS advisors be included in delegations to all arms control conferences. This policy would ensure that GBV and the role of women in security are prioritized in discussions, and it would foster a more inclusive and effective approach to disarmament. Furthermore, by normalizing the presence of women in positions of power, the UN can challenge societal norms that discourage women from reporting violence and advocating for change, ultimately driving progress toward gender equality and more comprehensive arms control measures. 

Expanding the DRC’s Gender-Sensitive Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism 

As the UN looks to expand the scale of GBV prevention within arms control actions, it must apply more comprehensive tracking methods to an international scale. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the tracking tool developed in collaboration with the National Commission for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons and the reduction of armed violence (CNC-ALPC) and United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is designed to monitor the implementation of the National Action Plan on small arms control.³⁷ It assesses progress in integrating gender-responsive policies by collecting data on how small arms control measures impact gender-based violence, tracking policy effectiveness, and identifying gaps in enforcement. 

By systematically recording sex-specific data and gender-sensitive indicators, the tool provides valuable insights into the relationship between arms proliferation and GBV trends, ensuring that interventions are better targeted and more effective.³⁸ Given its capacity to highlight the direct and indirect effects of arms control efforts on vulnerable populations, the tool could serve as a model for other states with high levels of armed violence and gender-based crimes. To strengthen global GBV prevention within arms control frameworks, the UN should incorporate this tracking mechanism into the ATT, ensuring that arms control policies are consistently evaluated through a gender-sensitive lens. 

Conclusion

The intersection of arms control and gender-based violence is a critical issue that requires urgent attention and action. While significant strides have been made in recognizing this link, much work remains to ensure that arms control policies and international agreements, such as the ATT, effectively mitigate the risks of GBV. The UN, with its unique position to set global norms and standards, must lead the way by embedding gender-sensitive provisions into arms control initiatives and promoting the active participation of women in related decision-making processes. 

The UN must also reevaluate existing monitoring tools and develop scalable, adaptable systems. These tools can foster greater accountability, improve data collection on GBV, and ensure that national action plans on small arms control and GBV are both comprehensive and effective. Ultimately, the UN’s leadership on SALW and GBV can help break the cycle of violence, advance gender equality, and establish new norms that protect women and girls from the devastating impacts of small arms proliferation.

About the Author:

Inaara Ali is a Master’s candidate in International Affairs at the George Washington University’s Elliott School, concentrating in Global Gender Policy. She previously earned her B.S. in Diplomacy and International Relations from Seton Hall University. Her research interests include gender-based violence, women, peace, and security, and arms control.

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1. UNHCR, “UNHCR warns of devastating spike in risk of gender-based violence for women and girls forced to flee,” United Nations, November 29, 2024, https://www.unhcr.org/us/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-warns-devastating-spike-risk-gender-based-violence-women-and-girls-forced. 
2. UNHCR USA, “Gender-based violence,” UNHCR, https://www.unhcr.org/us/what-we-do/protect-human-rights/protection/gender-based-violence.
3. UN Women, “Facts and figures: Ending violence against women,” UN Women, November 25, 2024, https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/facts-and-figures/facts-and-figures-ending-violence-against-women.
4. Etienne Lwamba, et.al., “Strengthening women’s empowerment and gender equality in fragile contexts towards peaceful and inclusive societies: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” Campbell Syst Rev. 18(1), March 8, 2022, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8904729/.
5. International Rescue Committee, “What is gender-based violence – and how do we prevent it?” November 23, 2022, https://www.rescue.org/eu/article/what-gender-based-violence-and-how-do-we-prevent-it. 
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. UN Women, “Facts and figures: Ending violence against women.”
9. Hana Salama, “Addressing Weapons in Conflict-related Sexual Violence: The Arms Control and Disarmament Toolbox,” UNIDIR, United Nations: Geneva, 2023, 22, https://unidir.org/publication/addressing-weapons-in-conflict-related-sexual-violence-the-arms-control-and-disarmament-toolbox/.
10.  Kelly Drane, “The Devastating Toll of Gun Violence on American Women and Girls,” Giffords Law Center, February 27, 2025, https://giffords.org/lawcenter/report/the-devastating-toll-of-gun-violence-on-american-women-and-girls/. 
11. Salama, 20.
12. Ibid.
13. UN Security Council, “Security Council resolution 1325 on women and peace and security,” S/RES/1325, October 31 2000, https://www.refworld.org/legal/resolution/unsc/2000/en/113308. 
14. UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, “Small Arms and Light Weapons,” United Nations, https://disarmament.unoda.org/convarms/salw/.
15. Ibid.
16. UN Office for Disarmarment Affairs, “UNODA Gender Policy,” United Nations, 2021, https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/UNODA-gender-policy-2021-2025-en.pdf. 
17. UN General Assembly, “Resolution 65/69,” 65th Session, January 13, 2011, https://docs.un.org/en/A/Res/65/69. 
18. Chantal de Jonge Oudraat and Jana Wattenberg, “A Gender Framework for Arms Control and Disarmament,” WIIS Policy Brief, Washington, D.C., May 2021.
19. UNIDIR, “Factsheet- Gender and the Arms Trade Treaty,” https://unidir.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/UNIDIR_Gender_and_the_Arms_Trade_Treaty_Factsheet_2022.pdf. 
20. Ibid.
21. de Jonge Oudraat and Wattenberg, “A Gender Framework for Arms Control and Disarmament.”
22. Owen LeGrone, “ATT Confronts Gender-Based Violence,” Arms Control Association, October 2019, https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2019-10/news/att-confronts-gender-based-violence.
23. José Francisco Alvarado Cóbar and Giovanna Maletta, “The inclusion of gender-based violence concerns in arms transfers decisions: The case of the Arms Trade Treaty,” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, August 23, 2019, https://www.sipri.org/commentary/blog/2019/inclusion-gender-based-violence-concerns-arms-transfers-decisions-case-arms-trade-treaty.
24. Catherine O’Rourke, “Disarming the Women, Peace and Security agenda: the case for centering the United Nations General Assembly,” Journal of Conflict and Security Law 29: Issue 1, March 1, 2024, https://academic.oup.com/jcsl/article/29/1/1/7636364.
25. Ibid.
26. UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, “Supporting gender mainstreamed policies, programmes and actions in the fight against small arms trafficking and misuse, in line with the Women, Peace and Security agenda,” https://disarmament.unoda.org/gender-salw-project/.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29.  Generation Equality, “Generation Equality Accountability Report 2023,” UN Women, 2023, https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2023/09/generation-equality-accountability-report-2023. 
30. UNIDIR, “Small arms control and prevention: Back together again or a flash in the pan?” October 29, 2024, https://unidir.org/small-arms-control-and-prevention-back-together-again-or-a-flash-in-the-pan/.
31. Salama, 28.
32. Generation Equality, “Generation Equality Accountability Report 2023.”
33. Salama, 30.
34. National Organization for Women, “Donald Trump’s Wrecking Ball on Government Funding Impacts Women and the Most Vulnerable,” January 29, 2025, https://now.org/media-center/press-release/donald-trumps-wrecking-ball-on-government-funding-impacts-women-and-the-most-vulnerable/.
35.  R.S. Klein, “The Role of Women in Mediation and Conflict Resolution: Lessons for UN Security Council Resolution 1325,” Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice, vol. 18, no. 2, 2012, pp. 277–313, https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/crsj/vol18/iss2/7.
36. de Jonge Oudraat and Wattenberg.
37. UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, “New tool to track gender-responsive small arms control in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” United Nations, May 27, 2021, https://disarmament.unoda.org/update/new-tool-to-track-gender-responsive-small-arms-control-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo/.
38. Ibid.