The inclusion of women in Yemen’s peace processes is the subject of a new master’s thesis from the Swedish Defense University.
– Women are included on an informal level, but on the formal level there is a subtle exclusion, says military scientist Dilara Cetinkaya, who calls the phenomenon hybrid exclusion.
The study is based on interviews with women who participated in formal peace talks in Cyprus and Geneva, some were also present at the talks held in Rimbo outside Stockholm in December 2018. Women at the informal level, active in various peace-promoting efforts in local communities, are also interviewed.
– Those who are educated, have a connection to the diaspora and who can speak English are connected to the highest formal processes. While those with higher education, but without knowledge of English are included in less formal processes. Women from unsafe areas and without means of transport are excluded, as they do not have the practical opportunities to participate, says Cetinkaya.
Although women are included at the highest level, exclusion takes place there as well, Cetinkaya states. She defines the exclusion as a hybrid exclusion, meaning that they are included technically but are subtly excluded. The women who were interviewed experienced that their participation became symbolic rather than meaningful, she says and recounts what one of the interviewees who participated on a formal level said:
-We could sit at the decision-making table, and sometimes a journalist came and snapped a picture, but it was as if to say how good they are who include women, but we sat there as an audience. Making a difference through actively influencing the content of policy’s which were being worked through during the meeting was out of the question.
Security and Political tensions hinder broad representation
To enable participation for women who are completely excluded, knowledge about how conflict affects different geographical conflict areas is required. It is important to identify which women are affected by different security and political tensions in different geographical areas and which obstacles face them. For example, there may be mines on the road that prevent them from getting to any calls, says Cetinkaya. Broad representation is important because there is knowledge there which is important for the resolution of the conflict.
-If you want to work for change, it is important to gather knowledge and experience that exists in the conflict area. Having a broad group of women, ethnicities and clans or tribes from different places means that different perspectives on the conflict emerge. It creates space for dialogue that can create a mutual understanding of how different groups experience the conflict and how these groups can compromise to resolve the conflict. That, in turn, can support reconciliation mechanisms which are the basis for peace.
International support for increased inclusion
What international support would you like to say is needed to create greater inclusion?
-By working to include women from the informal levels in more formal decision-making processes, ie all processes that are at a higher level than the local one, change can be created. But it is a difficult job and even more difficult to be an external actor. One must keep in mind that power and influence are related to the norms that prevail in the country of conflict. If you look at the Yemeni constitution, it does not open up for women to take positions of power. Here, international support to local actors for broader gender equality work can help, for example through initiatives that strengthen gender mainstreaming in different sectors.