"Guns, masculinities and tackling armed violence against women" Regional Review Conference on the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development Antigua, Guatemala | 28-30 April 2014

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Guns, masculinities and tackling armed
violence against women
Anna Alvazzi del Frate
Research Director, Small Arms Survey, Geneva
29 APRIL 2014

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VAWG: one of many forms
of violence, but…
Blurred boundaries between interpersonal,
community and political violence
More violence, more violence against women and
girls
Endemic violence, poor investigation and
punishment => higher levels of accepted violence
in the society
High rates of femicide, slow criminal justice
response, less efficient than for homicide more
generally

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VAWG vs GBV
Violence against women and girls (VAWG)
is one particular form of GBV
Gender-based violence may be against
women or men
Relationship with firearms strongly marked
by masculinity
Guns mostly owned and used by males
against males
Female patterns of gun use and ownership
often repeat male patterns

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Too Close to Home
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is
present across countries and cultures
Femicide
Although males are the majority of
victims of lethal violence, the risk of
IPV is higher for women
The presence of guns in the home,
including work-related guns, increases
the risk

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Stray bullets and women
Injuries caused by stray bullets, traditional
or celebratory shootings largely affect women
and children as bystanders.
In 2013, 50% of
victims of stray
bullets in
Colombia were
female
Source: CERAC, 2013

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What can be done?

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A shift towards equal
opportunities for women
• Perception of women as agents of change,
not merely victims
• An increasing number of policies and programmes
addressing firearm violence now seek the involvement of
women in their design and implementation.
• ‘[t]o facilitate the participation and representation of
women in small arms policymaking’ (para. II.A.2.i).

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Programme of Action on Small
Arms and Light Weapons
2012 Review Conference, New York 27 August – 6
September - (Outcome document, UNGA, 2012)
14. We remain gravely concerned about the
negative impact of the illicit trade in small arms
and light weapons on women, men, children,
youth, the elderly, and persons with disabilities
and call for improved understanding of the
different concerns and needs of these groups.

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Arms Trade Treaty
(2013)
Bearing in mind that civilians, particularly women and
children, account for the vast majority of those adversely
affected by armed conflict and armed violence,
4. The exporting State Party, in making this assessment,
shall take into account the risk of the conventional
arms covered under Article 2 (1) or of the items
covered under Article 3 or Article 4 being used to
commit or facilitate serious acts of gender-based
violence or serious acts of violence against women
and children.

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Security Council res
2106 (2013)
• Makes important steps, for example calls
upon Member States to comply with their
relevant obligations to continue to fight
impunity by investigating and prosecuting
those subject to their jurisdiction who are
responsible for such crimes

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Small Arms Survey
2014
Women and Guns
Social norms can perpetuate the cycle
of violence
But women are not only victims
Linkages between gender and small
arms, policy and legal responses,
women and security agendas
Slow shifts in the dynamic between
men and women
FORTHCOMING
16 JUNE

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Thank you
www.smallarmssurvey.org