Women in Post-Conflict Settings: An Analysis of Key Issues [2624]

General Information

• Credits: 3 ECTS
• Prerequisites: Bachelor's or Licence level (or equivalent); proficiency in French
• Learning format: asynchronous distance learning – 100% e-learning
• Language of instruction: French
• Course access: available at any time of year
• Disability liaison officer: Cécile Boucherle 

Course Overview

This course examines gender issues in post-conflict settings, emphasizing the continuity between armed conflict and reconstruction. It shows that, although women are disproportionately affected by conflict-related violence, they often remain underrepresented in the decision-making bodies responsible for shaping peace and reconstruction. The course is structured around three main themes: gender from armed conflict to the post-conflict period, women’s participation in peace negotiations, and their role in peacekeeping operations. In particular, it analyses the contribution of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which seeks to strengthen women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution, while also highlighting the limitations of its implementation. Finally, the readings explore the relationship between gender and security, sexual violence, women’s political participation, and the sometimes ambivalent effects of peacekeeping operations on societies undergoing reconstruction.

Course Objectives

This course enables you to:

• Situate the "women, peace and security" normative framework — resolutions 1325 and 1820 — and identify its blind spots, notably the absence of quantified benchmarks and of binding monitoring mechanisms.
• Analyse the way international humanitarian law constructs gender, confining women within a victim status and overlooking male victims.
• Explain wartime sexual violence at the intersection of gender and ethnicity, beyond the paradigm of universal male domination.
• Critique the essentialist assumptions of gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping operations and their effects on the security of host communities.
• Assess the actual place of women in peace negotiations, drawing on quantitative data covering 585 agreements and on the case of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition.

Course Competencies

This course is linked to the following competency:

• Evaluate the ethical and practical conditions of a humanitarian intervention or of a post-conflict transition

Course Outline

Section 1 - Gender: From Armed Conflict to Post-Conflict Settings

Section 2 - Women and Peace Negotiation Processes

Section 3 - Women and Peacekeeping Operations

Assessment Methods 

Course assessment is based on:

• tracking and completion of the course and of all learning activities. These activities, designed as essential practice and learning exercises, may be completed multiple times and are not factored into the final grade,
• the final assessment quiz, which constitutes the graded evaluation.

Learning Format

The course is taught entirely online via the MyDomuni platform, accessible 24/7.
Learning resources include:

• written course materials;
• supplementary documents and, depending on the content, video resources;
• interactive learning activities (quizzes, exercises);
• a discussion forum with the course instructor and fellow participants.

Prerequisites

This course is open to anyone holding a Bachelor's degree or Licence (or an equivalent qualification) in law, the humanities, social sciences, theology, or a related field connected to human rights, or with significant personal or academic experience related to the topics covered.

A good command of written French is recommended to facilitate understanding of the content and participation in the activities offered.

Accessibility

The course is accessible at any time, from any internet-connected device, via the MyDomuni platform.
For students with disabilities, specific support can be arranged upon request to ensure equitable access to course content and activities.

Disability liaison officer: cecile.boucherle@domuni.eu.

Selective Bibliography

• Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Dina Francesca Haynes et Naomi Cahn, On the Frontlines: Gender, War, and the Post-Conflict Process, Oxford University Press, 2011. 
• Caroline O. N. Moser et Fiona C. Clark (dir.), Victims, Perpetrators or Actors? Gender, Armed Conflict and Political Violence, Londres, Zed Books, 2001.
• Dyan E. Mazurana, Angela Raven-Roberts et Jane L. Parpart (dir.), Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping, Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.
• United Nations, Women, Peace and Security: Study Submitted by the Secretary-General Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), New York, United Nations, 2002. 
• Maureen P. Flaherty (dir.), Gender and Peacebuilding: All Hands Required, Lexington Books, 2015.