Women, Peace and Human Security: The Case of Afghanistan

Abstract

This paper explores whether the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda – Resolution 1325, in particular – provides the necessary conditions for women’s agency and, in a broader sense, the achievement of sustainable peace and security, applying a critical feminist framework on human security with special consideration for the role of agency. Through a review of relevant literature, this paper finds that the WPS Agenda, while a positive development, has several structural and operational issues, and so, fails to sufficiently challenge the state-centric, militarist, patriarchal, colonial and imperial underpinnings of the current security system that give rise to women’s insecurity and hinder their agency, therefore preventing the achievement of true human security. A case study of the experiences of Afghan women during the twenty-year war in Afghanistan (2001-2021) reveals important lessons: (1) the benefits – although fragile and temporary – of the presence of the international community to local women’s security and the ability of advocates and civil society to effect positive change on the ground; (2) the importance of cultural sensitivity and the false universality of Western liberal ideals; and (3) the necessity of consistently upholding commitments to women’s security and their human rights in negotiations with non-state actors, like the Taliban. This paper concludes with reflections on how these lessons can be taken into consideration in future applications of the WPS Agenda, as well as in attempting to improve the security of Afghan women and advance their human rights, now and into the future.

Key words: Afghanistan; Agency; Critical Analysis; Feminism; Human Security; Resolution 1325; Women, Peace and Security