Gendered discourses and practices on gender in military operations: The interpretation and implementation of a gender perspective in the ISAF operation by the accounts of Dutch military gender advisers

Abstract

With recent political developments, like the publication of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) "Women, Peace and Security" (2000), the way how the military plans and executes their international missions in consideration with the local population is under scrutiny (Westendorf 2013). The resolution is built upon feminist concerns on the neglected human rights and political participation of women in (post)conflict areas; requesting international security forces to act with a gender perspective during military operations. How does the military, and the Dutch Armed Forces in particular, respond to these developments and demands in the security sector? The Dutch Ministry of Defense has relied mainly on the deployment of gender advisers (GENADs); female military officers that are responsible for advising the military staff on gender-aspects of operational planning and execution when in the field (Van Der Heuvel 2009). Researching the practices of these GENADs, their interpretations of what gender means and what its relevance is to the conduct of military missions is, is crucial to review how UNSCR 1325, or a gender perspective in operations, is operationalized in reality. This data will be compared with feminist theories on gender, intersectionality and agency in order to analyze them and see if these theories can make contributions to the understandings of gender by the military. My thesis will show that the GENADs do not get the kind of support they need from the Dutch Ministry of Defense to implement proper policy changes and truly conduct gender-sensitive and -responsive operations. It also shows that the comprehension of gender in these projects is very limited and often based on essentialized notions on women, leading to generalist and instrumentalist practices, and above all; gendered discourses on gender.