Gender Considerations in Military Planning: Examples from Nepal
by Joe Evans and Akriti Rana
Journal Article | February 4, 2018 - 1:52pm
Gender Considerations in Military Planning: Examples from Nepal
Joe Evans and Akriti Rana
Introduction
Commanders and military planners, from the strategic to the tactical level, have an overwhelming amount of resources to guide defense planning. Operational activities should be driven by situational awareness of the operating environment
but are often focused on a narrow picture of the threat. Conflict and threats against our security interests are frequently driven by perceptions and other social factors that are not accounted for in planning. Additionally, wars and other instability inflict significant damage on vulnerable populations that can fester and lead to further violence if ignored. There is a substantial amount of evidence to show that women suffer disproportionally both during and after a war.[ii] The suffering applies also to children, especially girls, as a result of damage to family and social networks and growth of existing gender inequalities. There is also a correlation between the frequency of conflict and violence with the same locations where girls face an increased threat of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and discrimination that hinders basic rights like education and safety[iii]. It could be detrimental to ignore these factors in our security cooperation programs and defense strategy.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/gender-considerations-in-military-planning-examples-from-nepal
