“Our power structures have evolved gradually over thousands of years. One further evolution is long overdue. The 21st century must be the century of women’s equality.” — António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General
Today, it is undisputable that women, as well as men, have a right to participate in international security discussions and shape the decisions that will affect their lives. For a long time, however, women were often barred from holding professional positions across sectors, and foreign ministries were
no exception.
For those countries that did have women in foreign service, many had formal restrictions on women’s roles in diplomatic service. In certain cases, it was only in the 1970s that some countries lifted their so-called marriage bans, which required women to choose between marriage and a foreign service career.
Women have since come a long way, but despite making up 50% of the world’s population, they continue to be marginalized and under-represented when it comes to dealing with international security issues. Ideas about who and what makes ‘good’ policy in nuclear security and non-proliferation are still strongly linked to masculinized norms, according to Still Behind the Curve, a study published in 2019 by UNIDIR.
In this study, surveys of more than 80 multilateral meetings on arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament spanning 40 years reveal patterns and trends related to gender balance in forums dealing with weapons and technology for both peaceful and military aims. Some of the findings show that:
- Women comprise only one third of diplomats accredited to arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament forums.
- In smaller, more specialized forums, the average proportion of women drops to around 20%.
- The ratio between gender composition and the size of a given meeting may correlate, in part because countries typically select men when they can only send a single representative, while women are selected as second, or more often, third or fourth members of a delegation.
- Men are over-represented as heads of delegations to a greater degree than would be expected given the overall proportion of men in a meeting. For instance, at the 2019 session of the Preparatory Committee for the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT PrepCom), approximately 76% of heads of delegations were men and 24% were women, while overall attendees comprised 71% men and 29% women.
To put these numbers into context, the study included focus group discussions with diplomats in New York, Vienna and Geneva to look at the institutional culture of arms control and disarmament diplomacy. The participants shared their perception that the field has rewarded characteristics, expertise and experiences that are more commonly associated with men, such as toughness, seriousness, risk-taking and military training.
These ideas and norms could explain some of the difficulties that women face when pursuing careers in the nuclear field. They could also be part of what hinders diversity and prevents innovation. Studies indicate that diverse teams tend to be more innovative and effective in anticipating problems and finding sustainable solutions, and innovation is what the field of international security needs more of now to overcome stagnation in arms control and effectively address opportunities and challenges posed by emerging technologies.
