How do we queer the Women, Peace and Security agenda?
My research area is queering women, peace and security. To ground this research in day-to-day practices, I consider how the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda can better include LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer) voices in gender, peace and security initiatives.
My work bridges academic, activist and policy approaches to include a gender perspective in peace and security responses in conflict-relation environments. My forthcoming book Queering, Women, Peace and Security (2024) reflects on how WPS practitioners understand supporting lesbian, bisexual and transgender women as a part of WPS work, and also looks to LGBTQ activists/organizations in Colombia and Northern Ireland to help define next steps for how to best collaborate across often siloed networks.
See my response to 'Frequently asked questions about queering WPS' here.
5 Key Recommendations
Include LGBTQ people in developing, implementing, and monitoring WPS projects
1.
Expand indicators to include sexual orientation and gender identity
2.
Define women and gender as two distinct terms
3.
Collect data about LGBTQ individuals in conflict
4.
Engage with the UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and annual thematic reports.
5.
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
'Queering Women, Peace & Security'
International Affairs, 2016
Queering Women, Peace & Security in Colombia', Critical Studies on Security, 2017
'Queering Gender-Based Violence Scholarship: An Integrated Research Agenda', (with Meredith Loken), International Studies Review, November 2022
'Forum-Shifting and Human Rights: Prospects for Queering the Women, Peace and Security Agenda', (with Catherine O'Rourke), Human Rights Quarterly, August 2023
'An Interview with Nikita Simonne Dupuis-Vargas Latorre about Trans Men’s Rights in Colombia Today', Peace Review, November 2022
POLICY BRIEFS
Supporting Queer Feminist Mobilizations for Peace and Security, (with Chitra Nagarajan) Center for Gender in Politics, Queering WPS Policy Brief Series, 29 March 2023.
Minimizing protection gaps for LGBTQ people living on conflict, Centre for Gender in Politics Policy Brief Series, 24 September 2021
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as a part of the WPS Project, 2/2016 LSE Women, Peace and Security Working Paper Series
Response to calls for inputs by IE SOGI for 2021 Gender Theory report. Read policy brief.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
In countries as different as Colombia and Lebanon, LGBTQ advocates are helping lead protests and build peace, Washington Post, July 2021
The Future of LGBTQ Human Rights in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda IPI Global Observatory, July 2019
Did sexual orientation and gender identity play a role in the rejection of the Colombian peace deal?, LSE WPS Blog, December 2016
The missing group of victims in conflict-related violence, Women Under Siege, Dec 2014
Charlotte Bunch is Important, Autostraddle 2012
For more podcasts, webinars and lectures visit my media page.
Read the full LSE WPS Policy Brief: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as a part of the WPS Project
RESOURCES
I keep an annotated bibliography of work related to queering women, peace and security here.
Printable postcard about cultivating queer engagement across WPS:
Ongoing Research
This year (April 2022-April 2023) I will be lead researcher on the British Academy Innovation Fellowship project 'Queering Women, Peace and Security (WPS): Improving Engagement with Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LBTQ) women in WPS Programming'. The proposed project includes a range of activities across academia, policy and practice developed in partnership with Christian Aid (CA), working with CA UK as well as CA Colombia. The application of this research will provide insights on the ongoing challenges of how best to include, learn from and prioritize the experiences of LBTQ women to queer WPS in practice. This project will also engage with and support ongoing work to queer WPS through the implementation of UN SCR 1325 by the leading Colombian LGBTIQ+ organization Colombia Diversa.
A central component of my research methodology is centering feminist and queer civil society actors already doing this work though it is not necessarily viewed as part of 'peace and security' work. In 2022 I have had the opportunity to consult with both Outright Action International and the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy (CFFP) on separate projects aiming to to do just that.
Over the past eight years I have had the opportunity to present this work at numerous academic conferences including the International Studies Association, the International Feminist Journal of Politics, and the British International Studies Association. I have also been invited to consult and offer feedback on policy initiatives for UNDP, the UK National Action Plan, the Center for Feminist Foreign Policy and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Co-authorship is important to me, especially as an opportunity to engage in feminist practice, but also as a way to write work that spans disciplines. I'm also very invested in the opportunity to develop networks and collaboration across gender and peacebuilding spaces and LGBTQ rights spaces.
Networks of people doing this work: