Forging a Feminist Vision for Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland: What Role for the UNSCR 1325

Abstract

These Remarks were presented to a local women's conference in Northern Ireland. They consider how UNSC Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security might be utilized by women attempting to influence official processes to deal with the past in Northern Ireland. In the Remarks, two aspects of the Resolution are considered, namely the protection of women as victims of violence, and the participation of women in peacemaking. The commentator suggests that, to date, interventions from Northern Irish women into official processes to deal with the past have concentrated on the participation aspect of the Resolution. Drawing on international experience of feminist engagement with transitional justice, the Remarks contend that women in Northern Ireland would do well to focus greater energy and attention on the protection aspect of the Resolution, articulating more fully and comprehensively the diverse forms of violence to which women were subjected during the conflict, and demanding accountability for that violence. In this way, UNSC Resolution 1325 might facilitate a conversation that has long proven difficult and divisive amongst women in Northern Ireland on the nature and extent of the gender-specific impact of the conflict violence, and ultimately, provide a platform to influence official conversations about dealing with the past in Northern Ireland.