Women, Gender, and Transitional Justice

Abstract

Transitional justice comprises the full range of mechanisms and processes that aim to strengthen the rule of law in the context of peace-keeping, conflict prevention, post-authoritarian transition, and post-conflict stabilization. The tools of transitional justice include judicial and non-judicial processes and mechanisms and are often categorized into four types of measures, or "pillars," of transitional justice: prosecution initiatives, truth commissions, reparations, and institutional reform (UNSG 2010; UNSC 2004, pp. 3-4; UNGA 2012). During or following conflict, large-scale human rights violations or the threat of such violations seriously undermines the legitimacy of state institutions and threaten society members' trust in government and in one another. Thus, transitional justice aims to reestablish shared norms and values based on human rights while transforming the institutions and norms that facilitated past rights violations. One explicit aim of transitional justice is to support the realization of women's equal rights, including through structural reform (UNSG 2010, pp. 2, 5; UNSC 2004, pp. 3-4; UNGA 2014a, p. 5; UN Women 2010, p. 3).UN Women defines gender equality to mean that an individual's rights, responsibilities, and opportunities do not depend on whether they are born male or female (UN Women, "Concepts and definitions"). The International Committee of the Red Cross explains that gender "refers to the culturally expected behaviors of men and women based on roles, attitudes and values ascribed to them on the basis of their sex." In contradistinction, a person's sex "refers to biological and physical characteristics" (International Committee for the Red Cross 2004, p. 7). While gender is socially constructed, context-specific, and changeable, societies often impose narrow and unequal gender roles on individuals based on their biological sex. If someone violates these prescribed normative limits, they risk increased levels of discrimination and violence (International Commission of Jurists 2007).