The Department of Political Science VIOLENCE OUTSIDE OF BATTLEGROUNDS - Qualitative text analysis of Women, Peace, and Security resolutions Hanna Jarenmark Bachelor Thesis: 15 credits Program and Course: Program in Political Science, SK1523 Level: First Cycle Semester and Year: Autumn 2022 Supervisor: Monika de Silva Word Count: 11 658 Abstract Women experience violence in times of war and peace. The UN’s Security Council has formulated ten resolutions on the Women, Peace, and Security agenda (WPS) to increase women’s political participation and address their experiences and needs in relation to armed conflicts. Women’s experiences of violence continue through time, space, and forms of violence, which have resulted in the theories of the continuum of violence. Research has found that the WPS agenda focuses on sexual violence during armed conflict. This thesis uses qualitative text analysis to study how violence against women is discussed in pre-conflict and post-conflict in the WPS resolutions. The thesis will answer if and how the WPS resolutions consider violence in public/private spheres, flight/encampment, and different forms of sexual and gender-based violence before and after conflict and if it changes over time. Results and analysis show that the resolutions focus on public violence in post-conflict in the space where the conflict took place and recognize different forms of violence, particularly the consequences of sexual violence. There is little change over time, except that they, in later resolutions, refer to both gender-based and sexual violence and introduce terrorism. Keywords: WPS; continuum of violence; violence against women; pre-conflict; post-conflict Table of Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Literature Review .................................................................................................................... 3 What is the Women, Peace, and Security agenda? ....................................................................... 3 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................... 7 What is the Continuum of Violence? ............................................................................................. 7 Time; Pre-Conflict, Conflict, Post-Conflict ............................................................................... 7 Space; Outside Battlegrounds .................................................................................................... 8 Forms of Violence; Beyond Rape as a Weapon of War ........................................................... 9 Methodology and Research Design ...................................................................................... 12 Design............................................................................................................................................. 12 Qualitative Text Analysis ............................................................................................................. 13 Data ................................................................................................................................................ 14 Analysis .......................................................................................................................................... 14 Results and Analysis .............................................................................................................. 15 Pre-conflict .................................................................................................................................... 15 Space .......................................................................................................................................... 15 Forms of Violence ..................................................................................................................... 19 Post-conflict ................................................................................................................................... 19 Space .......................................................................................................................................... 19 Forms of Violence ..................................................................................................................... 24 Comparison between pre-conflict and post-conflict ................................................................... 26 Change over time .......................................................................................................................... 26 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 27 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 28 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 30 Material ......................................................................................................................................... 33 Introduction Women and girls are the biggest victims of war and crises (Mlaba, 2022). Their safety and rights are likely to be of last priority, and because of their sex, they experience sexual violence and physical and verbal abuse. It is also more difficult for them to access resources, reducing the possibility of attaining their human rights. In addition, they are exposed to the life- threatening conditions that war and armed conflicts entail. Rape and violence against women and girls are extensive before, during, and after armed conflict (Kangas et al., 2015). Sexual violence, especially rape, is used as a war tactic and weapon to: …destabilise families, groups and communities; to carry out ethnic cleansing and genocide; to instil fear in populations in order to dampen resistance and/or incite flight; as a form of punishment and torture; to affirm aggression. The destabilization of families and communities can contribute to other forms of violence, including domestic violence. (Kangas et al., 2015, p.102). Additionally, there is increased sexual exploitation, trafficking, and sexual slavery in armed conflicts. Women and girls are often forced to provide sexual services or forced into marriages. Women refugees, for example, are demanded sexual favors in exchange for necessities from authority figures such as government officials and peacekeepers. War destroys facilities such as hospitals, resulting in a shortage of sexual and reproductive health care. This increases the risk of unintended pregnancies and the spread of disease and infection, often caused by gender- based or sexual violence. Because of gendered expectations where women flee, and men fight, women are expected to take responsibility for feeding, housing, and protecting their families and livelihoods (Mlaba, 2022). Therefore, women and children comprise more than half of the displaced people in the world. The World Bank claim that violence against women and girls affects one out of three women in their lifetime (2019). These experiences include physical and sexual partner or non-partner violence, which about 35 percent of women have experienced, and 38 percent of women murdered are so by their intimate partners. This happens to women regardless of their social or economic position and where they live. The World Health Organization lists several health 1 consequences of gender-based violence (2021). Some of them are fatal outcomes from homicide or suicide; unintended pregnancies, abortion, or sexually transmitted infections (e.g., HIV/AIDS); miscarriage or health issues of the baby; and mental and physical issues. This occurs in war but also in contexts outside of the battleground. UN Women agree that women and girls especially experience sexual violence in relation to war and armed conflict because sexual violence is used as a tactic of war. To support women’s participation in international peacemaking and encourage inclusion and equality in states, the UN has written several resolutions on the Women, Peace, and Security agenda (WPS). The aim is to decrease gender-based discrimination and violence in peacemaking. The thesis aims to study if the United Nations Security Council is, in the WPS agenda, considering that violence against women increases insecurity for women not only in war but also before and after the war. Therefore, my main research question is: How are pre-conflict and post-conflict violence against women discussed in the UN’s WPS resolutions? Feminist researchers in international relations claim a gap in the discussion about violence (True, Tanyag, 2017, p.45). They mean that researchers disregard women and their unique position and experiences of violence in relation to war, conflicts, peace, and security. Instead, the focus is limited to men’s perspectives, prioritizing their interests, and considering them before women’s interests. The masculine bias in research and politics results in a gendered division between public and private spheres, production and reproduction activities, and war and peace (ibid, p.46). The research has resulted in the theory named continuum of violence, meaning violence against women is continuous over, for example, time, space, and forms of violence. The continuum of violence will be further explained under the theoretical framework. War has consequences for everyone, not only women, but as mentioned, women have a unique experience with violence in war and peace. War and armed conflict increase insecurity in general, but for women, this is not limited to war and conflict. Violence is present in both war and peace for women, and violence against women could therefore be framed as a security issue in general, even in the context of peace. This is what I want to study in the WPS agenda. Preventing war and maintaining peace also means that women do not have to face the consequences of men’s violence in either combat or post-war. Jacqui True claims that gender- 2 based violence is an obstacle to women’s political participation in building peace and recovery (2013, p.2). This is especially true in post-conflict contexts. It means that addressing violence against women in both war and peacetime will support women to be political actors and peacemakers like the UN wants them to be. The previous research will inform the thesis on how the WPS agenda is depicted from the perspective of the continuum of violence. The UN is a central actor in international politics and peacemaking, affecting their member states’ politics. Therefore, the study has both scientific and social relevance with the use of past-developed theories and, from new perspectives, clarifies how a political institution recognizes a political issue. Continuously I will present the WPS agenda and what previous research has found regarding the continuum of violence. This will lead to the presentation of the continuum of violence theory in the theoretical framework and will be presented with three different identified dimensions; 1) time, 2) space, and 3) forms of violence. The methodology and research design will follow this, introducing the data and analytical tool used in the next section, results and analysis that will answer the thesis’s research questions. At last, there will be a conclusion of the whole study and what further research is possible. Literature Review The thesis will address the scholarship on the WPS agenda and how it is depicted with the continuum of violence in mind. I have not found previous research studying how other forms of violence other than sexual violence in the WPS resolutions or considered that violence against women is not limited to women’s unique experiences in war and armed conflicts but is also present in peacetime as well as different contexts such as their home or as refugees. What is the Women, Peace, and Security agenda? 31 of October year 2000 United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325. The resolution was initially formulated by NGOs collaborating with the UN to make recommendations on addressing the links between women, peace, and security (Cohn et al. 2010, p.130). The purpose of the resolution was to hold actors accountable for crimes against women and increase the protection of women and girls in wartime, as well as women’s participation in peace- and decision-making. The WPS agenda consists of four pillars: 3 participation, prevention, protection, and relief and recovery (Castañeda & Myrttinen, 2022, p.52). However, they are only implicitly formulated in the ten resolutions written since 2000 and used in 140 National Action Plans (NAP) (ibid, p.50). The agenda is a result of feminist campaigning, pointing at women experiencing forms of violence that are being overlooked, that the violence against women is specific when it occurs in conflict and post-conflict compared to a non-conflict setting, and the assumption that women have a unique position to contribute to peacebuilding different from men (Pankhurst, 2016, p.181). WPS is part of a more extensive system of protection of women in the UN. The year 1979, the UN adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (United Nations). The difference between the instruments is that CEDAW addresses gender inequality and women’s rights in general, and the WPS specifically addresses women’s insecure position in war and armed conflicts. Even if discrimination can be argued as a form of violence, this thesis aims to study how the UN specifically addresses violence against women in pre-war and post-war, making the WPS resolutions a relevant choice of material. Although, it is plausible that aspects of the CEDAW can also be found in the WPS resolutions, considering the UN adopts both. The WPS agenda has been criticized for its failure to improve the situation for their defined targets and structural aspects that can be found in the agenda, like colonial mechanisms (Gray, 2019, p.193). It has also been criticized for being cis- and heteronormative, failing to recognize men and boys as victims, and a state-centrist mechanism (ibid). It is worth noting that the UN Security Council, whose role is to maintain peace, consists of fifteen members. Five (China, France, Russia, the UK, and the USA) are permanent and have veto power making it possible for them to block resolutions (Council on Foreign Relations, 2021). Some examples were when the recognition of sexual and reproductive rights was objected by the US, Russia, and China, or a German proposal was weakened to avoid the US using their veto (De Vido, 2020, p.10). At the time of when the first adopted resolution in 2019 (Resolution 2467), the Council consisted of fifteen men and no women, having a resolution which is to recognize women’s position in war, having only men represented in the decision-making. 4 Previous studies of the WPS agenda with the theory of continuum of violence in mind have found that the focus has been on sexual violence, particularly rape as a weapon of war, in the resolutions (Meger, 2012; Kirby & Shepherd, 2016). Sara Meger speaks of the WPS agenda as a recognition of sexual violence as a tactic of war, resulting in the possibility for an international response (2012, p.1). On the other hand, she founds that all forms of sexual violence are conflated under the headline “rape as a weapon of war,” forgetting distinctions between different perpetrators and victims. Therefore, the UN and the WPS resolutions are not concerned with sexual violence as an experience in times of insecurity existing on a continuum over pre-, during, and post-conflict (ibid, p.2). Kirby and Shepherd say that the focus on conflict-related sexual violence ignores the continuum of violence where people experience not only sexual violence as “rape as a weapon of war” but also other forms of violence which exist everywhere and every day but is especially frequent in unstable societies (2016, p.380). Furthermore, the WPS agenda recognizes to some degree that women face difficulties attaining political participation when their security is compromised by sexualized and gender-based violence (ibid, p.381). Women experience more detrimental and far-reaching consequences from sexual violence in wartime (Aroussi, 2011, p.579). In peacetime, sexual violence against women is associated with shame and honor transcending into armed conflicts and suffering social, economic, and health consequences long after the perpetrator(s) have been punished (ibid, p.580). The WPS resolutions have, over time, been more focused on sexual violence and recognizing it as a weapon of war and a threat to peace and security (ibid, 580f). The resolution from 2008, resolution 1820, stresses the issue of accountability, expressing the intention to take measures against actors committing gender-based violence. Aroussi argues that this did not “deliver anything new to women in conflict that has not been previously established elsewhere within the UN system” (ibid, p.581). She means that the marginalization of justice for women in peace agreements is symptomatic of the limitation of the WPS agenda to help victims of sexual violence (ibid, p.588). The WPS agenda does not discuss various kinds of crises and disasters, such as climate disasters and pandemics (Hynes & Yadav, 2020). Yet, studies have linked conflicts with events like these, positioning them on a continuum and making them an issue for security. For 5 example, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased domestic violence, and research indicates that the relationship between gender-based violence and extreme weather events is circular, repeating in a cycle, and resulting in increased vulnerability to one another. Yet, the UN’s WPS agenda does not consider nor recognize this continuum that affects women’s security in non-war and war settings. Instead, their focus is mainly on women as participants in security and peace processes, particularly in conflict and post-conflict spaces (ibid; Gray, 2019, p.192). One study found that after counting the frequency of the word prevention in the ten resolutions, which varied from resolution to resolution, the prevention pillar is structured by three prevention logics: conflict, sexual violence, and violent extremism (Shepherd, 2020, p.324- 330). These are, in turn, connected to three other logics: peace, militarism, and security, respectively. Shepherd finds that the WPS agenda focuses on strategies that eliminate insecurity, which is militarized and increase the risk of armed conflict. Therefore, these strategies, legitimized as prevention strategies, do not prevent violence, even if that is the aim. The prevention pillar, she claims, is therefore paradoxical, having the preventative activities focus more on counter-violence than peace. Dianne Otto offers a similar reasoning: the resolutions do not consider the aim of general disarmament, to demobilize and remove weapons and arms, which actors in feminist circles believe is a goal toward peace (2016, p.6ff). Instead, their approach to peace and security is militarized, not offering non-violent peace and conflict resolution strategies. Disarmament is only mentioned in the context of disarming former combatants. Violence and violation against women and their rights are used to justify using force and military occupation to protect them. In this thesis, I will focus on how violence against women is specifically depicted in peace through the theory of the continuum of violence and the different dimensions I have found when reading. I want to study how other forms of violence in the WPS agenda than sexual violence since previous research have not answered this (see: Meger, 2012; Kirby & Shepherd, 2016). I also want to find out if, and how the WPS agenda finds that violence against women can occur in different spaces, such as in the home or when women are refugees, I could not 6 find that this has been researched before. Previous research has focused on conflict, and this thesis will instead focus on how violence against women before and after an armed conflict is discussed in the WPS resolutions (see: Shepherd, 2020). The reason is that violence against women exists in both pre-conflict and post-conflict and that the violence continues from pre- conflict into the time of conflict and then spills into post-conflict, being an experience women experience in all timeframes. Stopping violence in pre-conflict could, therefore, decrease the use of sexual and gender-based violence both during and after conflict. Because women do not only experience sexual violence before, during, and after armed conflict, it is also worth studying how the Security Council considers other forms of violence than sexual and whether it takes place in public or the home, if the perpetrators are combatants, public figures, or family members. Considering women experience violence as refugees as well, it is also worth finding if the WPS agenda takes their experiences into account, seeing as war and armed conflict result in people needing to flee their country. In the next section, the three different dimensions of the continuum of violence will be presented. Theoretical Framework What is the Continuum of Violence? Through reading the theories of the continuum of violence, I have identified three dimensions: time, space, and forms of violence. Some of the literature discussing the theories will be presented below and will illuminate how it relates to the different dimensions. Time; Pre-Conflict, Conflict, Post-Conflict During armed conflict, law and order will break down (OSCE & ODIHR, 2022, p.2). It is easier to commit sexual and gender-based violence in times of conflict because it is a context of violence in general while perpetrators face no persecution. As mentioned, sexual and gender- based violence, especially rape, is used as a tactic of war. However, violence does not end with the war, and women face several indirect consequences of armed conflicts (True, Tanyag, 2017, p.46). They suffer severely from poverty and domestic violence. Post-conflict, during peacebuilding, it is common for violence committed by men against non-enemy women to increase (Pankhurst, 2016, p.183f). Some states experience increased lethal violence on women in post-war, resulting in the term femicide being used. True and Tanyag discuss the risk of 7 sexual violence when women and girls are fetching water or performing sex work to receive necessary goods and protection, which is justified by gendered expectations. Women’s work, though, is devalued by the state even if society needs their labor. This means social and economic consequences for women and girls. Masculine norms depict men as a protector and the family’s breadwinners, which has implications for their experiences of violence and insecurity (ibid, p.46f). The financial changes that conflict results in making it difficult for men to find work that fulfills the norms. As compensation for their loss of financial control, it is possible that they act violently against women and children in their homes or publicly. Gendered violence against women is classified as ordinary when it occurs in their everyday lives, in peacetime, and extraordinary when it occurs in times of armed conflict because it is perceived as political (Swaine, 2010, p.2). Violence against women exists before the war and continues during the war, the ordinary becomes extraordinary even if there are forms of violence that are the same. The ordinary and extraordinary are not separate but continued in time, expressed with different terms that give the impression that they are not linked (ibid, p.3). Recognizing the ordinary violence against women will address the extraordinary violence that is a continuation of the ordinary, giving political incitement to address violence in peace to decrease violence against women in war. …the exceptionality of wartime rape might further normalize the everyday violence many women experience. If violence against women is so high in peacetime, why would it surprise us that such violence is exacerbated in wartime? Are these two not related along lines of pre-existing inequalities like racism, sexism, ageism and the cultivation of male violence? The meticulous study of large data sets, however biased, has shown that there is no inevitability in conflict-related rape, not even in sexist or racist contexts. Hence, peacetime inequality is not a predictor of sexual violence. Nevertheless, in order to understand prevalence of sexual violence in conflict in different settings, complexity of analysis, including gender analysis that extends beyond the context of war, is essential. (Boesten, 2017, p.516) Space; Outside Battlegrounds Ulrike Krause found in a case study of Uganda that sexual- and gender-based violence is not only prevalent during armed conflict and displacement but also during the flight from the 8 conflict to displacement and encampment (2015, p.15). Therefore, the violence and insecurity that women and girls experience in relation to war continue into other spaces other than the violence that occurs within the conflict zone that women enter, making them experience a continuum of violence regarding space. The violence is not limited to the space in which the conflict occurs. Feminist researchers claim that gendered power relations identify a private sphere to which women are relegated and a public sphere which is a masculine space, a dichotomy that they reject (Yadav & Horn, 2021, p.4). Instead, they want to bring light to the “everyday violence,” which is a form of violence invisible to others because it is taking place in the home, in everyday life. This, in turn, can impact how institutions aiming to create peace only recognizes some forms of violence because of the invisibility of the private violence taking place in the home. The private sphere is also referred to as a domestic sphere or space. The violence taking place in the private space is, for example, domestic abuse and sexual violence. Because violence against women in times of peace transcends into wartime and becomes extraordinary rather than ordinary, the violence women experience during conflict could be perceived as public violence. However, private violence continues into the public space and is perpetrated by armed parties. Forms of Violence; Beyond Rape as a Weapon of War Boesten refers to Herman and Hirschman and Scully and Marolla, who uses a continuum to place different male sexual aggressions on two extreme ends where the forms of sexual violence are “largely accepted and normalized” (2017, p.512). Boesten draws different forms of sexual violence from Liz Kelly, including threats of violence, sexual harassment and assault, coercive sex, domestic violence, and incest. The continuum intends to identify connections between the significant and criminal acts, such as rape, and what is observed as usual or minor, such as harassment. Krook is also discussing violence against women as a continuum, referring to feminists who depict it as an iceberg where sexual coercion is the tip or a power and control wheel where power and control are connected to violent behaviors (2020, p.119ff). Violence against women is, therefore, not a singular incident but is linked to each other throughout women’s lifetime. 9 Violence is consequently not hierarchical but rather cumulative; the violence adds to each other in women’s lives, where even more silent incidents of violence and control can build up to detrimental consequences. Five forms of violence against women are “physical violence, sexual violence, threats of physical and/or sexual violence, stalking, and psychological/emotional abuse” (ibid, p.116). These types of violence are not distinct from each other. Different types of violence can be present in the same case. Physical violence, for example, can have psychological consequences or vice versa (ibid, p. 121f). Violence against women can also have consequences for their political participation. Krook mentions a Bolivian politician, Juana Quispe, who, after facing violence from colleagues, got suspended and, in the end, was found murdered. Delaporte and Pino, though, found that women’s political representation in Brazil reduces violence against women (2021, p.13). Cases of violence against women are found to decrease by 63 percent when electing a woman mayor (ibid, p.2). Their theory for this is that the effect lies in the policies women implement when they have political power. War has consequences for women’s socio-economic situation both in wartime and post-war. In wartime, resources will be reallocated, creating inequalities even in post-war, making it harder for some of the population, especially women, to meet their needs (Kostovicova et al., 2020, p.254f). In addition, those who gain power after the war will privilege the elites and disadvantage others, resulting in poverty, exclusion, and marginalization by staying jobless and not getting access to social welfare. This leads to increased vulnerability for women to male control and violence. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, funding is lacking to address gender-based violence. For example, there are safe houses used for protection that courts rarely approve, and the funding is complex, the state-level and local authorities split the governance. There is a lack of laws protecting those who experience domestic violence (ibid, p.258f). Unemployment combined with psychological consequences after the war can result in men’s violence against women (ibid, p.260). Women are also likely to have few job alternatives and risk poverty by doing informal work to provide for their families, such as domestic cleaning, babysitting, and caring for their families (ibid, p.262). Political, economic, and military elites are examples of actors participating in the sexual exploitation of women, which is a part of the criminal economy (ibid, p.263f). Bosnia exports 10 both women and children to sell sex in other countries. Violence against women also includes economic violence. In this thesis, the study will be limited to analyzing the three first dimensions of the continuum of violence, which I have summarized in the table below. The aim is to find how the UN discusses the dimensions in relation to each other in the WPS agenda, mainly how space and forms of violence are addressed in war and peacetime. With the literature review and theoretical framework in mind, my hypotheses are: H1: The WPS agenda will discuss violence against women pre- and post-conflict. H2: The discussions of violence against women pre- and post-conflict will lack aspects of the continuum of violence. The study will focus on pre-conflict and post-conflict, meaning it will not focus on how the WPS resolutions discuss violence in a stable peace that is neither on the brink of starting a war nor where war has recently ended. Because the resolutions concentrate on war and armed conflict, durable peace will most likely not be considered in the texts. The focus will also be on violence against women, which can include mentioning girls, but mentions of violence against men and/or children alone will not be considered when reading or analyzing the resolutions. The method and research design used to analyze the WPS resolutions are presented in the next section. 11 Table 1: Summary of the dimensions of the continuum of violence. Dimension Continuum of Violence Time Pre-conflict Conflict Post-conflict Space Public Private Conflict-context Flight Encampment Violence Physical Sexual Threats of Stalking Psychological/ Economic violence violence physical emotional violence and/or sexual abuse violence Methodology and Research Design As a method, I will use qualitative text analysis of the ten WPS resolutions written by the United Nations Security Council to answer my research question. The study will ask and answer descriptive questions rather than causal ones and compare changes over time. Design Estimating limits between high and low or much and little can be problematic (Esaiasson et al., 2017, p.144ff). The researcher and their values can formulate the point of comparison. This has been solved by using time as a point of comparison, how the data changes over time in relation to each other (ibid, p.146ff). On the other hand, because I do not aim to find the frequency of the resolutions but rather if and how the dimensions of the continuum of violence are discussed in the resolutions, I do not need to consider how much or little they discuss it, but whether it is present at all. I use classifications to define the theory and concepts used to analyze the data and find if and how the dimensions exist in the resolutions. To shape the analysis, I need to consider the technical and intellectual requirements (ibid, 138f). The technical requirement encompasses the need for the variables in the analysis to be operationalizable to measure the data (ibid). There need to be clear definitions of the different variables and how they are separate and distinct from each other and mutually exclusive. This means there must be apparent differences between the components and no overlapping. This is 12 complicated because the variables interact with each other. It is especially complex to separate sexual and physical violence because sexual violence, like rape, is also physical. Although there is some overlapping, I still find it valuable to include physical violence as a phenomenon. There are distinctive characteristics that separate the different concepts, even if there are some overlapping and links between them. Sexual violence is its own concept and the same with physical violence. Therefore, direct violence with no sexual dimension is classified as physical violence. The definitions of the variables also need to be exhaustive or at least covering, meaning all the relevant and known aspects of the phenomena are found and included. This will mainly be relevant to the complex concepts of violence, and it is complicated to find all pertinent elements that could be included in each definition. I will not predefine the answer to the classifications other than whether the discussion is present or not. This is because I do not know what I will find in the resolutions and therefore want the answers to be open and the variables guiding the analysis. This means that aspects of the variables could be found in the resolutions rather than defined before the study. Using the theoretical dimensions of the continuum of violence also contributes to the study’s validity, as it gives the analysis frames of measurements (ibid, p.58). They help me measure what I aim to measure. The intellectual requirements include making sure there are divisions between the variables, the definitions are useful, and saying something new (ibid). This requirement lies on the intellectual community to decide whether it has been reached. Qualitative Text Analysis The study aims not to find the frequency of different concepts and words, as with quantitative text analysis, but to analyze the whole text, the parts of the text, and what context it has appeared from (ibid, p.198, 211f). Therefore, I will use qualitative text analysis, as the method is useful for understanding how phenomena are conveyed. Texts convey meanings, and language creates meaning that can be accepted or challenged. However, language only has meaning once it is given meaning by those using it, it is a social process. Therefore, I want to know how an actor like the UN Security Council conveys and gives violence against women meaning in armed conflict and non-conflict. Because several states have adopted the WPS agenda and its meaning, it has consequences for their politics. 13 Data The data used in this thesis are all ten resolutions regarding the Women, Peace, and Security agenda formulated by the UN, which can be found on the website for UN Women (the link can be found last in the bibliography). The reason for the chosen material and the focus of the study is because of the centrality of the UN and, in this case, the WPS resolutions, seeing as it is an intergovernmental organization consisting of 193 member states, of which more than 140 of them use the WPS agenda in their NAPs (United Nations; Castañeda & Myrttinen, 2022, p.50). This means the discussion the UN leads regarding women’s security in relation to war and armed conflicts has been accepted by most member states, which can be assumed to have consequences for their politics regarding peace and war. The resolutions can be argued to be the origin of the discussion about states’ international politics making them a primary source. Continued research can find how the discussion of violence against women in relation to war is led in states’ NAPs and how they relate to the UN’s WPS resolutions. I find that the ten resolutions that exist can be analyzed within the timeframe for the research, meaning I do not have to select the material regarding the questions I am researching. Analysis To analyze the resolutions Table 1 with the summary of the continuum of violence on page 12, will be the basis for the analysis to answer the research questions, which are: • How is violence against women in pre-conflict and post-conflict discussed in the UN’s WPS resolutions? • Which forms of violence are discussed? • Which spaces are discussed? • Is the discussion regarding peacetime more focused on pre-conflict or post-conflict? • Has it changed over time? With the continuum of violence, I will classify the different dimensions and concretize the aspects present in the resolutions. When reading the resolutions, I will use questions to guide 14 the analysis and write down notes while reading. Even if sexual violence has been previously researched, I will still consider this when reading the resolutions because the research has not focused on or answered how they discuss sexual violence pre-conflict and post-conflict. The questions used to read the resolutions are: • Are there discussions about the public/private sphere in pre-conflict? • Are there discussions about the public/private sphere in post-conflict? • Are there discussions about flight/encampment in pre-conflict? • Are there discussions about flight/encampment in post-conflict? • Are there discussions about physical violence, sexual violence, threats of physical violence, stalking, psychological or emotional abuse, or economic violence in pre- conflict? • Are there discussions about physical violence, sexual violence, threats of physical violence, stalking, psychological or emotional abuse, or economic violence in post- conflict? The following section is the results of the reading and the analysis of the resolutions. Results and Analysis I will in this section present the results from reading the ten resolutions written by the UN Security Council and the analysis of the dimensions of the continuum of violence to answer how the UN discusses violence against women in pre-conflict and post-conflict. First, I will present pre-conflict research through the separate sections of space and forms of violence and then post-conflict with the same sections. I will then compare these two sections and answer how the resolutions have changed over time. At last, there will be a conclusion of the results and analysis. Pre-conflict Space The WPS resolutions never explicitly mention the concepts of the private and public sphere or in what context the violence against women occurs other than during or after conflict. Though, 15 there are formulations that could encompass both the public and private sphere and pre- and post-conflict. Also, they do not explicitly mention flight or encampment but terms like refugees and displaced still points to them considering women on flight and in an encampment. Though the focus is on armed conflict, some phrases could, like with the spheres, encompass flight and encampment in pre-conflict. In the earliest resolutions, they write to eliminate all forms of violence against women during and after an armed conflict. Later the formulations are broader and thus vaguer, first only writing to eliminate all forms of violence, then later to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women. The latest resolutions write to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in conflict prevention, during conflict, and in post-conflict. The vagueness opens for the inclusion of violence against women in pre-conflict and in both spheres, not pointing at violence happening in the public or the private sphere specifically. Also, separating three different timeframes in the latest resolution by writing conflict prevention, conflict, and post- conflict could be interpreted that they recognize that violence in relation to conflicts is not limited to either time of the conflict or post-conflict. Conflict prevention could therefore be interpreted as pre-conflict and aiming to eliminate violence in this timeframe. The change in the focus from violence to discrimination and from specific to vague and broad could be because they implicitly include violence in the term discrimination. It is also possible that there is a change in how violence against women is discussed both outside and within the UN. This could affect how the Security Council discusses this in their resolutions, recognizing that violence against women is not limited to conflict and post-conflict and that violence in pre- conflict can affect violence against women during and after armed conflict. In the second resolution, they write that they are: Deeply concerned also about the persistent obstacles and challenges to women’s participation and full involvement in the prevention and resolution of conflicts as a result of violence, intimidation and discrimination, which erode women’s capacity and legitimacy to participate in post-conflict public life, and acknowledging the negative impact this has on durable peace, security and reconciliation, including post-conflict peacebuilding. (Resolution 1820, 2008, p.2) 16 This is also addressed in the fourth resolution. This could imply that prevention of violence against women in general, whether it happens pre-conflict, during a conflict, or after a conflict, is an obstacle to women having political power, particularly in post-conflict. The reason for specifying participation in post-conflict may be because this is where the peacebuilding takes place, and political systems are rebuilt after the instability of a conflict. Because they write that violence is a challenge in the prevention of conflict implies that they recognize that violence also occurs pre-conflict when actors try to resolve conflicts before it becomes armed. The focus on participation in public life means that violence as an obstacle and challenge arises in the public sphere, where women show interest in taking political power. On the other hand, this could also happen in the home of the woman who is stopped by their family from participating politically in conflict prevention and resolution. They do not specify where the violence occurs or who the perpetrator is other than implicitly pointing at men. In some of the later resolutions, the Security Council writes to address the root causes of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict as part of conflict prevention, resolution, and peacebuilding. They write: Recognizing that the disproportionate impact of sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations on women and girls is exacerbated by discrimination against women and girls and by the under-representation of women in decision-making and leadership roles, the impact of discriminatory laws, the gender-biased enforcement and application of existing laws, harmful social norms and practices, structural inequalities, and discriminatory views on women or gender roles in society, and lack of availability of services for survivors, and further affirming the importance of promoting gender equality by addressing these and other root causes of sexual violence against all women and girls as part of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding. (Resolution 2467, 2019, p.2) Again, using prevention, resolution, and building implies that they consider three different timeframes where prevention constitutes pre-conflict. Writing to address root causes implies the recognition that violence against women, especially sexual violence, exists in pre-conflict 17 or peace and is a cause for sexual violence to exist in conflict and post-conflict. Though, they do write that gender inequality is one of the root causes, and the focus on women’s participation in the WPS agenda could instead be what they intend. The writing also does not explicitly discuss violence in the private or public sphere. Still, focusing on social structures and society implies that the causes exist in both public and private life. Discussing sexual violence against women as an occurrence in conflict and post-conflict instead suggests that the perpetrators are parties to armed conflict, meaning combatants rather than women’s spouses, for example. The violence is therefore referred to the public space, not the private. The latest resolutions, from 2015, introduce terrorism and violent extremism as a security threat to women and girls, sexual and gender-based violence being part of its strategy and tactics. This also impacts women’s participation, health, and education. This focuses on violence against women in the public sphere, the perpetrators being the enemy not only to women but also to the whole state and its population. Also, their discussion of terrorism does not specify whether their existence constitutes an armed conflict. The time is fluent, neither comprising conflict nor non-conflict. The writing could imply that terrorist groups are part of both pre- conflict, conflict, and post-conflict, being part of and a threat within all three timeframes. They also write to include terrorist groups who have violated international humanitarian law, such as sexual and gender-based violence, as well as forced displacement when adopting sanctions. Violent extremism has increased the number of refugees and those internally displaced, meaning it causes people to flee. All but three of the resolutions write that states are responsible to respect and ensure within their territory all people’s human rights. This could imply that states not part of the armed conflict are responsible for those seeking refuge in their country and ensuring that their human rights are protected and respected. States are, therefore, responsible for eliminating, for example, violence against women who are refugees within their territory. There is also no timeframe stated, meaning that this is current both during peace and war, in pre-conflict, conflict, and post-conflict. Other than this, there is little focus on flight and encampment in pre-conflict, which is not surprising, seeing as it is more natural during armed conflict, being a threat to human security and safety. There is also little focus on states hosting refugees from 18 where a conflict occurs, which could be because the resolutions focus on the space of conflict in general. Forms of Violence To eliminate all forms of violence and/or discrimination, which has been discussed above, points to include not only sexual violence as a form of violence against women but also other forms of violence, such as physical, psychological, and economic violence. Changing to only using discrimination could encompass these forms of violence and violence that do not have a direct impact, such as threats of violence. This could therefore imply that the Security Council, in the resolutions, recognizes that violence against women is complex and does not only constitute sexual violence, even if it is often the focus of the resolutions. It also implies that these forms of violence occur not only during armed conflict and post-conflict but in pre- conflict as well, as stated before. When discussing obstacles against women’s political participation in post-conflict, they include violence, intimidation, discrimination, and socio-economic factors. This means the obstacle is not only sexual violence but also could include physical violence, threats of violence, psychological violence, economic violence, or barriers that contribute to economic violence, such as exclusion from education and employment. Again, this discussion could encompass pre-conflict as well. Post-conflict Space In the first resolution, they discuss mine clearance and to take the impact it has on women and girls into account. Mine clearance is likely done after the conflict, being part of the rebuilding process during post-conflict. Because mines are a form of weapon used in armed conflict and used in battlegrounds, this form of violence could be referred to the public space. The perpetrators are likely to be combatants on either side of the conflict and are used as a tactic of war. Therefore, it does not fit into the private sphere where the perpetrators instead are family rather than enemies, and it is not used as a tactic of war for families to commit violence against women. 19 All resolutions but the latest call for ending impunity and prosecuting those who are perpetrators of war crimes such as sexual violence against women. The earlier resolutions discuss prosecuting those who have committed sexual violence against women in conflict. At the same time, later, they also recognize that these forms of violence also occur in post-conflict, aiming to prosecute these perpetrators as well. They also discuss that ending impunity is important to come to terms with past abuses against civilians to prevent them in the future and stop the message that sexual violence in conflict is tolerated. Several of the resolutions calls for zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse from UN personnel and state troops and police. These formulations link the past with the future, finding solutions in the present post- conflict to prevent violence against women in future armed conflicts. The focus on the impunity of perpetrators during conflict specifically implies a focus on violence against women in the public sphere, committed by combatants, but it is never specified. When they start discussing ending impunity of sexual violence committed post-conflict, there is an opening, interpreting it as ending impunity for all who have committed these crimes, including in the private sphere. Bringing up UN and state security personnel and the zero tolerance of crimes committed by these actors again focuses on violence occurring in the public sphere. In the second resolution, they discuss creating awareness about and ending sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict, as well as doing awareness training for personnel in UN peacekeeping to protect and prevent women from experiencing sexual violence. Training UN personnel and state troops and police on violence against women are repeated in almost all the following resolutions. However, in the later ones, they start using gender-based violence, adding to sexual violence that has been the singular focus before. This again points to violence occurring in the public sphere where security personnel exist. Again, though, including the state’s security personnel implies that they get training on preventing and protecting women from all violence in every space, being responsible for the safety of all civilians within their territory answering to violence occurring in the home as well in both conflict and post-conflict. The resolutions have recognized the need to address sexual violence in post-conflict and the recovery from conflict. They have requested monitoring, analysis, and reporting of sexual violence in both conflict and post-conflict to implement measures to protect and reduce sexual 20 violence against women. To combat and prevent sexual violence against women, they need to enlist men and boys, empower women, and increase their participation. This does not point to either the public or private sphere. It implies that they are interested in addressing all forms of sexual violence against women in post-conflict and finding how to reduce it. The request to enlist men and boys and to empower women implies that sexual violence against women is an issue that should be of interest to all, not specifying what men and women they address and for all to help combat it. This is also implied when one resolution recognizes that recruiting women as peacekeepers may make women and children feel more secure reporting abuse. Later they write to have sexual and gender-based crimes expertise to document these crimes occurring in conflict and post-conflict. It does not point to a specific sphere in which the violence occurs. On the other hand, because they suggest this when discussing UN peacekeeping, it implies that the focus is on violence perpetrated by the enemy combatants rather than people in their own families. They never discuss how they would respond to women reporting sexual violence committed by, for example, their spouse. Then in two of the later resolutions, they write that they recognize a link between sexual violence committed during conflict and post-conflict and HIV/AIDS. This also does not point to whether the violence is committed in the private or public sphere and could imply that it is committed in both because they never mention who the perpetrators are. Discussing violence against women in post-conflict could also suggest that the violence they experience is not committed by the enemy, considering the conflict is over. Their experiences with violence could, therefore, rather be perpetuated by their “own” people, in the home, or by public figures. Although they mention UN and state personnel as perpetrators when discussing zero tolerance, women’s families are never as perpetrators, which could imply that the focus is on perpetrators in the public sphere. In one of the latest resolutions, they write: 21 Recognizing the link between sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations and the illicit trade in natural resources, including so-called “conflict-minerals” and further recognizing the need for private sector actors to ensure that proceeds from materials acquired for their production processes do not fund armed groups that perpetuate conflict and sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations. (Resolution 2467, 2019, p.3) This implicitly mentions sexual violence against women in the post-conflict space because the perpetrators are part of the labor market doing illicit affairs, meaning they trade in the public space. They are not committing these crimes in the home but in a space for the financial market, where they work. In some of the later resolutions, they also mention that the Arms Trade Treaty should consider how weapons are used to commit acts of sexual and gender-based violence against women. As implied in the quotation, groups can also be armed in post-conflict. Because armed groups are referred to the public space, again, they are not family members committing these crimes. This formulation suggests that the Arms Trade Treaty should consider violence against women occurring in the public sphere. On the other hand, if this is considered, it is possible that it also could affect violence in the private sphere, but the resolutions do not suggest this. As mentioned in the section on space in pre-conflict, the resolutions aim to eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination in post-conflict as well. The vagueness implies that violence and discrimination in public and private spheres could be considered in the resolutions, not only in the public sphere. Though the obstacles to women’s participation can be referred to the public sphere as discussed in the same section on terrorism and violent extremism suggests the same, being a public threat regardless of the timeframe. They also discuss how they request information on how member states address trafficking and its link with sexual violence both in conflict and post-conflict, being a strategy and tactic by terrorist groups. This also implicitly focuses on violence against women in the public sphere perpetrated by the enemy. In one resolution, they show concern at the vulnerability and the range of threats and human rights violations against women in conflict and post-conflict, being targeted and at risk of experiencing violence, and consider the impact on women, including forced displacement. Mentioning that women experience a range of threats and violence could suggest that violence 22 is not limited to the public space but that these violations are also experienced in the private space. Moreover, because it does not implicitly point to any perpetrator, they could both be family members, public figures, and enemy groups. One resolution name “Human Rights Due Diligence Policy on United Nations Support,” as a tool for security forces, not part of the UN, to “enhance compliance with international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law, including to address sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations” (Resolution 2106, 2013, p.2). This implies that sexual violence in post-conflict also occurs against refugees when they raise the refugee law. Several of the resolutions mentions that women victim of sexual violence should be considered in the reintegration processes, and one of the earlier resolutions want to develop mechanisms with women to provide protection from violence in and around refugee camps managed by the UN, reintegration, disarmament, and demobilization. One of the later resolutions writes: Recognizes that displaced persons face specific, heightened risks of sexual and gender- based violence, including sexual violence in armed conflict, as well as barriers to support services, and in accordance with international refugee law and international human rights law, as applicable, sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations may constitute a gender related form of persecution for the purposes of determining eligibility asylum or refugee status; encourages Member States to consider resettlement or local integration support for survivors, to adopt measures to mitigate the risk of sexual violence, to make services available to survivors, and to provide the option of documenting their cases for future accountability processes. (Resolution 2467, 2019, p.9) This focus on the consequences of sexual violence against women in conflict and post-conflict on their status as refugees and how their needs should be considered when they move back to their country. They do not mention violence experienced when on the flight, but they do mention protecting women in encampments when the UN manages those camps. They do not recognize violence against women in camps operated by states, they choose to instead focus on themselves and their organization. They do, though, call for troops to evacuate those under 23 threat of sexual violence to safety, which are women and children. Again, their experience with violence is in the space of conflict and post-conflict. The limited focus on how women experience violence on the flight or in the encampment can also point to the narrow focus on the private space, being that especially violence in the encampment is committed by those they live with or are protected by and thus are committed by people they know or at least in the space that now is their home. They do mention increased risks of sexual and gender-based violence against people displaced in armed conflict, but this suggests that they are internally displaced and therefore are still in the space where the conflict takes place. Forms of Violence Again, writing to eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination suggests a range of different forms of violence experienced by women in peacebuilding, which could be interpreted as the timeframe for post-conflict. This is also implied when writing that they show concern at the vulnerability and the range of threats and human rights violations against women in conflict and post-conflict, being targeted and at risk of experiencing violence, as mentioned before. Their discussion about mine clearance in the first resolution implies a physical threat to women and their physical security. Also, as discussed in this section in pre-conflict, the obstacles to women’s participation are not only sexual but also imply that there is physical violence, only using the word violence, intimidation, and socio-economic factors like education, livelihoods, and employment. The focus on women’s political participation also suggests that women experience political violence, as the violence they experience stops them from taking political power. Several resolutions discuss increasing access to health care for those victims of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict. This includes both physical, mental, and psychosocial care. They link sexual violence to other forms of violence, having them be consequences for sexual violence. For example, how there is a link between sexual violence and HIV/AIDS, having an impact on women’s lives and bodies. They also recognize that there are women who become pregnant from sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict and those who “choose to become mothers” (Resolution 2467, 2019, p.7). these women risk experiencing harm, socio-economic marginalization, and physical and psychological injury. Again, discussing how women are victims of other forms of violence when being victims of sexual violence. In one resolution, 24 they recognize those forced to witness sexual violence against family members as being secondarily traumatized. Sexual violence, therefore, does affect not only those directly experiencing it but also those who experience it indirectly, having psychological consequences. The first resolution writes about gender-based violence, but it is not until the latest resolutions that they use this in relation to post-conflict. The other resolutions in between never mention gender-based violence. When discussing gender-based violence, they do so along with sexual violence in relation to training UN and state personnel, including professionals in the justice and security sector, having expertise, the Arms Trade Treaty, international law, sanctions, prosecution, terrorism, and access to health care. One resolution writes: Reiterating its strong condemnation of all violations of international law committed against and/or directly affecting civilians, including women and girls in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, including those involving rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, killing and maiming, obstructions to humanitarian aid, and mass forced displacement. (Resolution 2122, 2013, p.2) This implies that there is violence against women, which does not constitute sexual violence, and other forms of sexual violence, which is not rape. Using sexual and gender-based violence as two separate phenomena constituting different forms of violence that are also gendered, specifically towards women. The change in formulations could be because of changes in conflicts and what forms of violence are used against women, but since the first resolution also mentions gender-based violence, this is likely not the reason. Otherwise, it could be the Security Council starting to recognize other forms of gendered violence being used, or that they previously considered all forms of violence against women as being sexual in nature even if it is not directly sexual and later recognizing that violence against women does not need to have a sexual motive. It is also possible that non-UN actors have pointed out the lack of recognizing different forms of violence against women in relation to conflict or changes in their own organization, possibly recruiting more women considering women’s needs in conflict and post- conflict. Because they do not define the difference between sexual and gender-based violence, it is difficult to know what they include in the terms and how they differentiate them. Still, it 25 is possible to say that there is a difference and that the later resolutions recognize different forms of violence in post-conflict. When the later resolutions discuss terrorism and forced displacement because of terrorism, it implies that these are considered forms of violence separate from other forms of violence. Terrorism is unique from other forms of armed violence and is a new form of perpetrators committing sexual and gender-based violence against women. Forced displacement is a threat to people’s security and safety as well as unique from other forms of violence resulting in insecurity. Therefore, actions resulting in fleeing their country and becoming refugees are considered a violation against civilians instead of considering violence against refugees. This could be because of the focus on conflict and the space in which it occurs. Comparison between pre-conflict and post-conflict The focus of the resolutions is the violence women experience in post-conflict. This could be because of the visible impacts armed conflict and post-conflict have on women and girls when the conflict is over and that the effects directly result from conflicts and post-conflict situations. The violence women experience in pre-conflict is not directly connected to armed conflict, even if structures resulting in gender-based violence result in violence against women in conflict, which the resolutions recognize when discussing addressing root causes. Pre-conflict may also be associated with peace, while post-conflict is related to armed conflict and peacebuilding, which could affect how the United Nations Security Council writes about violence in pre-conflict, as their role is to maintain peace and prevent war. Their focus is, therefore, on conflict and peacebuilding rather than stable peace. Change over time Overall, there are few changes over time. Some paragraphs are repeated in several resolutions; sometimes, they are written in one resolution to be non-existent in the next and then repeated in the one after that. Some paragraphs are only mentioned in one resolution, such as mine clearance. There are fluctuations in the language they use and what they focus on, and some of this could be found in an earlier resolution, while others are found in one of the later ones but never repeated. 26 There are, though, some changes to the resolutions over time. For example, as mentioned, they write from 2010 and the following four resolutions about gender-based violence with relevance to especially post-conflict. Again, this could be because of changes in forms of violence used in armed conflict against women, that the Council starts recognizing that other forms of violence other than sexual violence are being used, new definitions, or that actors within or outside of the UN raise awareness to this and the need for it to be recognized. In 2015 they also introduced terrorism and violent extremism. The reason for this could be the rise of the terror group ISIS and the attention they get for the violence they have committed against civilians, including women, in Syria. They also mention in the resolution from 2015 that there is a: “changing global context of peace and security, in particular relating to rising violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism/…/in this regard reiterating its intention to increase attention to women, peace and security as a cross-cutting subject in all relevant thematic areas of work on its agenda, including threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts. (Resolution 2242, 2015, p.2) This new global context and the new and increased security threats could also be the purpose of this introduction. The latest resolution in 2019 is less detailed than the other resolutions, focusing on how the WPS resolutions have been implemented. Therefore, there was little to analyze from this resolution compared to the other nine resolutions. Conclusion Violence against women in pre- and post-conflict is discussed but considering the other dimensions of the continuum of violence, there are aspects they do not discuss, at least not explicitly. The violence in pre-conflict particularly is rather implied than explicitly mentioned. Paragraphs in the resolutions are, at times, vague and, therefore, open to interpretation. Their discussions about violence in post-conflict do exist and are explicitly discussed by pointing at 27 violence women experience in post-conflict. When discussing forms of violence, the focus is on sexual violence, but other forms of violence are also addressed in the resolutions. They do explicitly consider that women experience physical violence and threats, psychological violence, and economic violence, as well as implying that terrorism and forced displacement are themselves forms of violence. The discussion about physical, psychological, and financial violence, though, is often discussed in relation to sexual violence, being consequences of sexual violence against women in conflict and post-conflict or for those witnessing sexual violence. They later use gender-based and sexual violence but never specify what this entails, leaving it open for interpretation. When considering the different spaces found in the reading of the continuum of violence, the focus is on violence women experience in the public space and in the space in which the conflict occurs. Again, there are paragraphs that are vague when discussing violence against women that could encompass private and public spaces because they never explicitly mention where the violence occurs. On the other hand, the focus on women’s participation in prevention, resolution, and peacebuilding, as well as the general focus on the context of the conflict and post-conflict, implies them focusing on experiences in the public space, seeing as never mentioned family members as potential perpetrators. The violence women experience when fleeing their country or settling in a refugee camp is not mentioned in the resolutions, apart from women being targets of parties of armed conflict and the perpetrators being combatants. There is little focus on states which host refugees other than to ensure all people’s human rights. Again, their discussions imply that causing forced displacement is a form of violence. Because member states use the WPS agenda, it is up to them to specify in their NAPs how broadly they perceive violence against women, if they include violence in both the public and private space, refugees, and different forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Conclusion I have in this thesis studied how the UN Security Council discusses violence against women in pre-conflict and post-conflict in their ten resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security from the theories of the continuum of violence and different dimensions identified. Because violence is experienced both before, during, and after armed conflict, I wanted to research how the WPS 28 agenda considers this, seeing as they discuss women and their experiences in relation to conflicts. From the literature review, I found that previous research has focused on sexual violence in times of armed conflict and that the approach to prevention of violence against women in conflict and post-conflict is militarized and focuses on counter-violence. Feminist research has found that violence against women continues, for example, through time, space, and forms of violence, meaning there is a continuum of violence. Using these dimensions, I analyzed the resolutions to find if they consider that women experience different forms of violence in different spaces, before and after conflicts, and if they change over time. I discovered that they focus on violence experienced in public spaces, never explicitly mentioning that family members can be perpetrators of violence against women in the space of their homes. They are also focusing on sexual violence and the physical, psychological, and economic consequences it can have. In the later resolutions, though, they use gender-based violence along with sexual violence, but what this means is not defined and, therefore, is open to interpretation. They also introduce terrorism and violent extremism in the later resolutions. Other than this, there are few changes over time. The resolutions also focus on violence women experience in post-conflict. Some phrases could imply that they consider women to experience violence pre-conflict but are not explicit other than mentioning eliminating discrimination against women during conflict prevention. This means that both of my hypotheses are true. They do discuss violence against women in pre- and post-conflict as well as there are aspects of continuum of violence which are lacking, such as violence against women refugees. Continuous research could find how the United Nations deal with their personnel committing violence against women, as they write to have zero tolerance for these instances. Further research could also study how men experience violence in pre- and post- conflict and how the UN considers their needs or how the WPS agenda is represented in states’ NAPs. 29 Bibliography Aroussi, Sahla (2011). ‘Women, Peace and Security’: Addressing Accountability for Wartime Sexual Violence. International Feminist Journal of Politics: vol. 13(4), p.576-593. Boesten, Jelke (2017). 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