Arms Trade Treaty: Women, Autonomy & Industry

Today was my second day at the United Nations learning about the development of the Arms Trade Treaty, which is still in its early stages before being presented as a UN resolution in late October.

One of the most interesting conversations I had this afternoon was with Debbie Hillier from Oxfam International who shared her insight about pursuing a comprehensive versus a universal Arms Trade Treaty and what it will mean if the Treaty doesn't get signed by a majority of UN members. It is clear from our discussion that no matter how many states sign onto final version of the Arms Trade Treaty (assuming it gets to that point), something is better than nothing when it comes to this issue.

Hillier also discussed how it would be helpful more industry players got involved - many of which are supportive of the Treaty because they want to be seen as law-abiding, credible manufacturers - a point I found interesting given the robust nature of a war-based economy.

I also got to hear from Mutuku Nguli from PeaceNet in Kenya, who discussed his perspective on women and the arms trade in Africa. He said that while women are more often victims of the arms trade as discussed in yesterday's post, they can also be conduits to the arms trade. Women in certain countries often praise the "war heros" in their community and therefore contribute indirectly to the culture of war by seeing them as the most desirable and masculine men - a "trophy husband" if you will. He also discussed how Muslim women dressed in a Burqa can transport illegal arms under their clothing, which is often unnoticed because women are rarely physically searched in these areas of the world. With these details, he demonstrated how the arms trade can truly infiltrate civil society and create a grey area, not only within the weaponry market, but also within cultural norms.

Still, Nguli said that no matter these circumstances, women indefinitely bear the brunt of the arms trade. When men go out with weapons to fight - legal or illegal - they often die or come home wounded, which puts families in a vulnerable position. Additionally, in some countries, if a husband is involved with illegal trafficking of weapons and he is caught, then both the wife and husband go to jail leaving children without a family unit. And then of course, he mentioned how guns are used to abduct women and coerce sex from them - something we have covered before here at Change.org.

From what I've learned in the past two days, I have to agree with the NGO position that it would be best if all parties signed an agreement that is all-inclusive of different weapons, is enforceable and workable, and also holds governments accountable of what weapons they are selling and the end use of those weapons.

And finally, it has been stunning how the conversation about an international arms treaty is very similar to the conversation about climate control measures and the nuclear non-proliferation. At the end of the day, the international community needs to work together and find some consensus on these issues. No matter what each individual nation wants to do, it cannot act unilaterally for much longer. It is clear that every nation - including the United States - will have to give up some autonomy and create added transparency if we truly want the world to be a better, safer, healthier place for the next generation.