Four
international organisations and networks—Amnesty International, the Women's Network of the International Action Network on Small Arms
(IANSA), the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), and Religions for Peace—have united to support a strong Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and the
inclusion of a specific criterion on gender-based violence in the negotiated
text.
Irresponsible transfers of weaponry, munitions, armaments, and
related equipment across borders have resulted in the loss of millions of lives
and livelihoods and the violation of fundamental human rights. In particular,
the widespread availability of small arms and light weapons increases the risk
to both men and women’s security, and impedes their enjoyment of their civil,
political, social, and economic rights in different ways. There is a gender
dimension to the trade whereby women are disproportionately affected by armed
gender-based violence.
This
July 2012 presents an historic opportunity as member states of the United
Nations (UN) gather to negotiate an Arms Trade Treaty
(ATT) meant to establish common international standards for the import, export
and transfer of conventional arms. Achieving an effective ATT is an urgent
necessity. The ATT will require states to authorize international transfers of
conventional arms in conformity with an agreed list of clear criteria that
assess a range of potential risks stemming from such transfers.
If the ATT is to be an effective legal instrument in regulating the international arms trade, recognition of the potential gendered impacts of international transfers must also be included.
Our Joint Policy Paper on Gender and the ArmsTrade Treaty (ATT) outlines why the ATT
should require States not to allow an international transfer of conventional
arms where there is a substantial risk that the arms under consideration are
likely to be used to perpetrate or facilitate acts of gender-based violence,
including rape and other forms of sexual violence. Some key questions in
the risk assessment process should include whether there is an effective
regulatory system to control arms and prevent such violence, and whether there
is evidence of acts or patterns of gender-based violence.
We suggest that the criteria of an Arms
Trade Treaty should require States not to authorise an international transfer
of conventional arms where there is a substantial risk that the arms under
consideration are likely to be used to perpetrate or facilitate acts of
gender-based violence, including rape and other forms of sexual violence.
For more information on how to apply such
a criterion and our Joint Policy Paper, see:
