Can abortion rights be integrated into the Women, Peace and Security agenda?

Abstract

Reproductive rights are an under-theorised aspect of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, most clearly typified in United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and successive resolutions. Yet reproductive rights are central to women's security, health and human rights. Although they feature in the 2015 Global Study on 1325, there is less reference to reproductive rights, and to abortion specifically, in the suite of UNSC resolutions themselves, nor the National Actions Plans (NAPs -policy documents created by individual countries to outline their implementation plan for 1325). Through content analysis of all resolutions and NAPs produced to date, this article asks where abortion is in the WPS agenda. It argues that the growing centrality of the WPS agenda to women's rights in transitioning societies means that a lack of focus on abortion will marginalise the topic and stifle the development of liberal legalisation.

Feminist Security Studies in Europe: Beyond Western Academics’ Club

“…The link between the focus and location is clear here-the UK has a large military and is, like Sweden, engaged in field operations outside of Europe (Duncanson 2013;Kronsell 2012). European FSS also discusses issues of health (Harman 2021) and reproductive health (Thomson and Pierson 2018).…”

Women, Peace and Security Agenda

“…Furthermore, recent developments at the UN Security Council have seen attempts to restrict and water down the agenda. For example, in 2019 the passing of Resolution 2467 on sexual violence was possible only after difficult negotiations which saw the U.S. administration (as well as Russia and China) impose a veto on the inclusion of references to sexual health and reproductive rights, an aspect that it still insufficiently addressed in WPS (Thomson and Pierson 2018). Similarly, in October 2020, the 20 th anniversary of UNSCR 1325, Russia proposed a new resolution deemed as an attempt to reverse some of the WPS commitment.…”

Gendering peace in Northern Ireland: The role of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security

“…While the Resolutions have helped the international community highlight sexual violence in conflict, they have been relatively silent on other issues and identities. For example, the Resolutions have said little about reproductive rights, with Resolution 2106 (passed in 2013) and Resolution 2122 (passed in 2013) being the only ones to contain an explicit reference to reproductive rights (Thomson & Pierson 2018). Importantly, they are framed in the language of ‘health’ rather than rights, with no greater specificity as to what this might actually refer to in terms of service provision.…”