How do we queer the Women, Peace and Security agenda?
My research area is queering women, peace and security, considering how the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda can better include LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer) voices.
My work bridges academic, activist and policy approaches to include a gender perspective in peace and security responses in conflict-relation environments. 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
RESOURCES
This toolkit provides a guide for how to queer Women, Peace and Security in practice through three main sections:
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Queering the four pillars of WPS,
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Feminist and LGBTQ collaborations, and
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Queering WPS National Action Plans.
The toolkit was developed in partnership with Colombia Diversa drawing on their work in the Colombian peace process, supporting LGBTQ individuals through transformative justice practices, and engaging in the drafting of the country’s first WPS National Action Plan in 2023.
Read the full LSE WPS Policy Brief: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as a part of the WPS Project