The project is sub-divided into two streams comprising several interlinking, free-standing projects: 

1. Conceptual Ambiguity 

• WPS and a Feminist International Law of Peace 
• Gender, Nature and Peace 
• Postcards from the Periphery 

2.  Gender and Reimagining Conflict Prevention 

• Women and Disarmament 
• Feminist Foreign Policy 
• Feminist Peace Activism

Explore our exhibition designed to stimulate interest in the often-neglected stories around women, weapons and disarmament.

The exhibition reflects the intellectual journey of the researchers who have been involved in this work and integrates archival material together with the research outputs generated through hyper-links in the text.

See the exhibition. 

 

 

 A virtual programme exploring feminist peace

To mark the 40th anniversary of the launch of CEDAW, the 20th anniversary of the Security Council’s Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, and 25 years since the Declaration and Platform for Action at the conclusion of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the AHRC-funded Feminist International Law of Peace and Security (FILPS) project organised a series of virtual events in collaboration with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom to build on visions of a feminist peace.

Through a programme of digital outputs, Visions of Feminist Peace brought together academics, advocates, practitioners, activists, artists, and students to showcase the plurality of peace visions, experiences, and discontents. The programme – featuring webinars, performances and interviews – aimed to contribute to the development of interdisciplinary, inclusive, intergenerational feminist visions of peace. Using digital technologies to connect with people across the world, the programme promoted knowledge and experience exchange and hoped to build solidarity within a global community

You can access the full programme, event and performance recordings here.

 

A Letter on Feminist Peace 

In September 2019, the Feminist International Law of Peace and Security project convened a workshop involving 19 legal academics and practitioners with the idea of drafting an alternative “Security Council” resolution to coincide with a number of anniversaries in 2020, including the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda at 20, the Beijing Declaration at 25 and the half way point to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

The aim of the exercise was to reclaim the WPS agenda and to recast it as a transformative peace agenda, as originally envisaged by many women’s civil society groups at the time of its adoption in 2000.

A year later, members of the team finalised the wording of a letter to the Member States of the General Assembly to be released on 21 September, International Peace Day, to coincide with the adoption by the Assembly of the Declaration on the Commemoration of the Seventh-Fifth Anniversary of the United Nations.

Click here to access the full letter, the LSE Festival video on the letter and  the methodology.

This public and freely accessible Zotero library was developed by the FILPS project bringing together relevant international law materials as resource for the normative bedrock of the UN Security Council’s Women, Peace and Security agenda. In addition to legally binding material, the library contains relevant UN reports and international and regional materials on the human rights of women and girls and related agendas.  

You can acces the Zotero library here.

You can read the LSE WPS Zotero library guide here. 

Many thanks to Michaela Chen for her work on developing this library and associated guide. 

• African migration, human rights and literature
  21.04.2021

  This event launched Professor Fareda Banda’s publication African migration, human rights and literature (Bloomsbury, 2020). In the book, Professor Banda examines the topic of migration through the prism of law and literature, using a rich mix of novels, short stories, literary realism, human rights and comparative literature to explore the experiences of African migrants and asylum seekers. 

  You can watch a recording of the event here. 

• Defending the Future: gender, conflict and environmental peace
  01.02.2021

  The intersection of WPS, climate change, ecological destruction and conflict or post-conflict situations raises a myriad of issues. This event addressed these issues and launched a report written in partnership between LSE's Centre for Women, Peace and Security, the Women’s International Peace Centre and Gender Action for Peace and Security.

  Read the report in full. 

• Challenging the Arms Trade
  20.02.2020

  Project Co-PI Louise Arimatsu chaired the LSE Library event 'Challenging the Arms Trade', an event that looked at the arms trade, with a focus on the UK, over the past four decades and see how opposition to it has been growing. 

• Rethinking peace from a queer feminist perspective

  26.09.2019

  Visiting expert, Professor Di Otto from the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne, gave a public lecture supported by the project titled 'Rethinking peace from a queer feminist perspective', which was also chaired by the PI Prof Christine Chinkin. 

• Foreign relations from the ground up
  24.09.2019

  The project supported a seminar with Professor Karen Knop, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, titled 'Foreign relations from the ground up' at the LSE Library.
  

• Gender, Nature, Peace workshops

  In 2019, Dr Keina Yoshida held two workshops (in London and Bogota, in partnership with Universidad del Rosario) on her AHRC supported research project 'Gender, Nature, Peace' to explore research gaps between issues of environmental conflict, gender, and peacebuilding. The workshops brought together academics and civil society stakeholders. 

  You can read our blog series on this topic here. 

• Workshop on an alternative Security Council resolution

  19.09.2019

  In this workshop, team members brought together international legal experts to begin the process of drafting an alternative Security Council resolution on Women, Peace & Security. What would a feminist resolution look like? You can find the concept note of the workshop here.

  A draft of the alternative resolution will be launched in September 2020. 

• Where would be today with CEDAW?
  28.05.2019

  The event “Where Would Women Be Without CEDAW” focused on violence against women and girls and holding governments to account, following a public lecture by Mauritian Supreme Justice and CEDAW member, Aruna Narain. The two sessions celebrated CEDAW’s successes, assessed its limitations, and looked towards the future, recognising the important work that still must be carried out. Read the blog about this event here. 

• Women and Weapons workshop

  16.05.2019

  This workshop, held in Geneva, explored how international law might be more effectively harnessed to further feminist disarmament goals and further peace. You can find the concept note for this workshop here. 

• Women's Peace Activism: Iran, Iraq, Syria
  03.05.2019

  The project, in partnership with the LSE Library, supported the public seminar 'Women's Peace Activism: Iran, Iraq, Syria', with speakers Nina Ansary, Zeynep Kaya and Laila Alodaat; and was chaired by Co-PI Dr Louise Arimatsu. This event also contributed to the ongoing partnership between the project and the LSE Library in disseminating knowledge on this topic and engaging in knowledge exchange among academia, policymakers, and professional practitioners. 

• Are we asking the right questions? Reframing peace and security
  2019
  
  Louise Arimatsu and Christine Chinkin were in conversation with the General Secretary of the Women's League for International Peace and Freedom, Madeleine Rees OBE in an event co-hosted by Feminist International Law of Peace Project and the LSE Library. The conversation explored questions that are asked about peace and war in particular whether the different lived experiences of men and women in conflict mean that different questions are asked and what important implications follow.

  You can read Christine Chinkin's blog on the event here.
  

• Women and Weapons
  2019
  
  This public event launched the FILPS project and explored the ways in which feminists engage with questions of arms control and disarmament. Speakers were Ray Acheson, Dr Renata Dwan and Rebecca Johnson.

  You can listen to the recording of Women and Weapons here. 
  

• Feminist Peace workshop (Manchester)
  2018
  
  This workshop brought together a group of experts drawn from a range of  disciplines (international law, media studies, gender studies), from different countries (Australia, Northern Ireland, the Gambia, Japan) to begin a conversation and to think about and interrogate the idea of ‘peace’ through the prism of feminist methodologies, enabling us to craft an enriched reading of what is implicated by the term under international law.

• Christine Chinkin, Conference rapporteur and concluding remarks
  05.2021
  
  Project Principal Investigator Christine Chinkin was conference rapporteur and gave concluding remarks at the Council of Europe Conference "Gender equality and the Istanbul Convention: a decade of action."
  
• Christine Chinkin, Panellist at CUNY School of Law conference
  05.2021
  
  Project Principal Investigator Christine Chinkin was a panellist at CUNY School of Law conference: Paths to Legal Accountability for Lead Poisoning, A global panel on demanding remedy for victims and preventing future harm.
• No systemic change without legal change: feminist engagements with international law
  05.2021
  
  Project Principal Investigator Christine Chinkin was a panellist at Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy event: No systemic change without legal change: feminist engagements with international law, CFFP and Global Justice Centre Event.
• Christine Chinkin, Advice to Special Rapporteur on VAW for report
  04.2021
  
  Project Principal Investigator Christine Chinkin gave Advice to Special Rapporteur on VAW for report: Rape as a grave and systematic human rights violation and gender-based violence against women.
• 10th International Conference of Museums for Peace
  09.2020
  
  Project Principal Investigator Christine Chinkin was the plenary speaker, giving a talk titled "Gender Justice & Gender Peace", at this event on 'The Role of Museums for Peace in Conveying Memories for Generations to Come', jointly hosted by Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto University of Art and Design, Kyoto Seika University and Ikenobo College.
  
  Find out more about the conference here. 
• Peace Brigade International webinar: Women's Rights During the Pandemic
  07.2020
  
  Project PI Prof Christine Chinkin chaired this discussion that contextualised the rise in gender-based violence during the current pandemic and looked at how women human rights defenders are responding.
  
  You can watch the webinar here.
  
• Draft General Recommendation on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migration: Written Comments 
  05.2020
  
  Following the CEDAW Committee's call for comments on their draft recommendation on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migration, Prof Christine Chinkin, Keina Yoshida and Lousie Arimatsu (LSE) and Gema Fernandez (Women's Link Worldwide) submitted their comments.
  
  Comments from States, NGOs and other stakeholders can be found online here. 
  
• Expert Group Meeting: Rape as a grave and systematic human rights violation and gender-based violence against women 
  05.2020
  
  On 27 May 2020, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Dubravka Šimonović and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, in collaboration with Equality Now, co-organized a virtual Expert Group Meeting on rape as a grave and systematic human rights violation and gender-based violence against women. More than 30 experts, including project PI Prof Christine Chinkin, attended the meeting, including academics, gender equality and women’s rights activists, practitioners, UN and independent mechanisms experts, and civil society organizations from around the world.
  
  Access the report of the meeting here.
• Atmospheres of violence: conflict, gender and environmental rights
  10.03.2020
  
  FILPS researcher Dr Keina Yoshida was a pannelist at this British Academy event as part of their Sustainable Futures season.
• Feminist approaches to Me Too and media law (Oxford University, Faculty of Law)
  02.2020
  
  Project Research Officer Dr Keina Yoshida discusses the implications of #MeToo for media lawyers and those working in the field of women’s human rights.
  
  More information can be found here.
• LSE Forum for Philosophy: Peace
  02.2020
  
  Speakers, including co-PI Lousie Arimatsu, explore the meaning of 'peace' in LSE's Forum for Philosophy. Peace is highly valued, but how is it achieved? Why are some periods in world history relatively peaceful compared to others? What, if anything, can be done to ensure peace now? Are there limits to what we are justified in doing to ensure peace? Is pacifism a justified response to war? We discuss the history, ethics, and politics of peace.
  
  You can listen or watch the discussion here.
  
• Better Human podcast
  23.12.2019
  
  Dr Keina Yoshida was a guest on an episode of the Better Human podcast titled 'Why climate change is a human rights emergency'.
  
  You can listen to the podcast here. 
• WILPF seminar 'Women Go Green For Peace'
  23.11.2019
  
  On 23 November 2019, Keina Yoshida spoke at WILPF UK’s conference on Women Go Green for Peace held at the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS. The event addressed the intersections of feminism, environmental preservation and pacificism and included speakers such as Kate Metcalf (Women’s Environmental Network), H.E. Dr Adrienne Diop (ECOWAS gender expert) and Dr Margot Okazawa-Rey (Women for Genuine Security). The event presented an opportunity to share research from the Gender, Nature and Peace project and to discuss the implications of conflict for the environment and the impact that it has on women’s lives. 
  You can read more information about this event here.
• Arms control, disarmament and the Women, Peace and Security agenda
  12.09.2019
  
  Prof Christine Chinkin was invited to speak at a meeting with United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research of the International Gender Champions Disarmament Impact Group. The audience comprised of ambassadors from a number of countries and Prof Chinkin spoke about Disarmament and Women, Peace and Security. 
  
  You can read the notes of Christine's lecture here.
• Making international law work for women post-conflict: new voices
  26-27.11.2019
  
  Three members of the research team participated in this event hosted by The Open University - Prof Christine Chinkin, Dr Louise Arimatsu and Dr Keina Yoshida. Prof Chinkin and Dr Arimatsu were commentators on papers during the workshop. Dr Keina Yoshida gave a paper title 'The Nature of Women, Peace and Security' at the above named conference, held at Amnesty International, Human Rights Action Centre, London.
  
  This talk contributed to the working paper 'The nature of Women, Peace and Security' (published 2019).
  
  You can find Keina Yoshida's paper 'The Nature of Women, Peace and Security' here.
  
  
• Cambridge International Law Conferance 
  03.2019
  
  Lousie Arimatsu spoke at the conferance looking at "New technologies for ICL & IHL: Prospects and challenges".
• CEDAW Committee on the United Kingdom
  25.02.2019
  
  Dr Keina Yoshida attended the 72nd  Session of CEDAW Committee’s examination of the United Kingdom, with the Centre for Women’s Justice.
• Women's Human Rights Summit
  20.11.2018
  
  Chief Investigator Professor Christine Chinkin gave the keynote address at the opening session of the Women’s Human Rights Summit of the XXIII Congress of the International Federation of Women in Legal Careers hosted by the Portuguese Association of Women in Legal Careers. Professor Chinkin discussed the Istanbul Convention as an effective tool for combatting violence against women and seeking sustainable peace.

• Working Group meeting
  14.09.2018

  At this workshop, project team members met with international legal scholars to discuss how peace has appeared in international law and elaborate on a vision of feminist peace. 

  You can find a summary of the discussion at this workshop on our blog, here.

 

Part of the Feminist International Law of Peace and Security project is to support interdisciplinary discussion around the project's core themes and we welcome blog contributions that contribute towards this discussion. To read our Feminist International Law of Peace and Security blogs and submit your idea for a blog please see our Call for Blogs.