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Sharing the knowledge: perspectives shared by experts during the “Militainment, the Arms Industry and the Marketing of #MilitarisedMasculinities, Weapons and War” meeting

Last week, we co-convened an international meeting focused on understanding and developing strategies to counter practices used by militaries and the gun industry to promote militarisation, war, and the sale of weapons, especially those that exploit gender stereotypes and weaponise ideas about manhood and masculinities. The meeting delved into the gendered marketing tactics that glamorise militarised masculinities. 

Image credit: WILPF
  • 6 min
WILPF International Secretariat
30 June 2024

Last week, we came together for an international meeting focused on understanding and developing strategies to counter practices used by militaries and the gun industry to promote militarisation, war, and the sale of weapons, especially those that exploit gender stereotypes and weaponise ideas about manhood and masculinities. 

The meeting which was co-convened by WILPF, Pathfinders for Peace, the Gender Equality Network for Small Arms Control (GENSAC), and the Small Arms Survey in Geneva brought critical voices in the field such as Nicole Hockley; the Co-Founder of Sandy Hook Promise whose son, Dylan, was killed, in the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, Jackson Katz; an activist-scholar known for creating a gender violence prevention and education program entitled ‘Mentors in Violence Prevention’, which is used by U.S. military and various sporting organizations, Dragan Bozanic; a sociologist with expertise in gender equality and gender and SALW (small arms and light weapons) and a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Network of Men Leader, Folade Mutota; the Executive Director and co-founder of the Women’s Institute for Alternative Development in the Trinidad and Tobago, Guy Feugap; a teacher and activist affiliated with WILPF Cameroon and the Africa Organizer for World BEYOND War, Claire Taylor from Gun Free South Africa and many other experts in the field.

Here are some thoughts shared by the experts:

Caroline Hayes from Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice said:

This is what Claire Taylor from Gun Free South Africa had to say:

Here is what we’ve learned from Dragan Bozanic, an expert on gender norms and small arms proliferation in the Western Balkans.

Watch some of our interviews with the experts:


Callum Watson, the gender coordinator at the Small Arms Survey shared his thoughts on the importance of including new perspectives in the work on small arms.

YouTube video


Natália Pollachi, an expert on small arms with the Instituto Sou da Paz tells us how small arms are marketed to women in Brazil and refutes the arguments to link gun ownership with the safety of women.

YouTube video


Nicole Hockley, the Co-Founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, one of America’s leading school safety organizations spoke to us about how Sandy Hook Promise came about after losing her son Dylan in the Sandy Hook school shooting and how she initiated a lawsuit against Remington, a large gun-maker at the time.

YouTube video


Ray Acheson, the director of WILPF’s disarmament programme, Reaching Critical Will (RCW) spoke to us on the manifestations of the gun culture in the United States.

YouTube video


Guy Feugap from WorldBeyondWar talks to us about the impact of arms proliferation in Cameroon.

YouTube video

All the other videos are available on WILPF’s knowledge hub: https://t.ly/Zz347.

Keep following our page for further information and content.

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WILPF International Secretariat

WILPF International Secretariat, with offices in Geneva and New York, liaises with the International Board and the National Sections and Groups for the implementation of WILPF International Programme, resolutions and policies as adopted by the International Congress. Under the direction of the Secretary-General, the Secretariat also provides support in areas of advocacy, communications, and financial operations.

Matt Mahmoudi

Matt Mahmoudi (he/him) is a lecturer, researcher, and organizer. He’s been leading the “Ban the Scan” campaign, Amnesty International’s research and advocacy efforts on banning facial recognition technologies and exposing their uses against racialized communities, from New York City to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Berit Aasen

Europe Alternate Regional Representative

Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

A woman in a blue, black, and white dress smiles radiantly in front of a leafy green background.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.