The Force Intervention Brigade in the drc, Civilian Security and Women Peace and Security
In: Journal of International Humanitarian Legal StudiesSearch for other papers by Gina Heathcote in
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Abstract
This article examines the UN Security Council (unsc) authorised Force Intervention Brigade (fib) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (drc) and the component of the mandate that articulates civilian security as a rationale for justified force. In examining civilian protection (articulated as both civilian security and as the protection of civilians), we explore the parallels between the women, peace and security agenda and the image – versus the reality – of civilian vulnerability in the drc. In focusing on the narratives of civilian security we explore how the ten years of repeat authorisations for the fib replicate heteronormative and colonial tropes that have ultimately undermined security in the drc and, for international lawyers, undermine peacekeeping principles, authorisations of force, and understandings of consent. The contradictions between the Security Council’s commitments to addressing and preventing conflict-related sexual violence and the mobilisation of the fib are drawn on to demonstrate the ways in which gender simultaneously strengthens the Council’s legitimacy and yet produces few spaces of significant change from a feminist perspective. We conclude that not only is the legacy of the fib detrimental to women’s security in the drc given reports of sexual exploitation and abuse (sea) perpetrated by peacekeepers but that the fib has transformed peacekeeping away from peace, embedding militarised responses to a complex humanitarian crisis.
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| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 294 | 294 | 76 |
| Full Text Views | 28 | 28 | 7 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 55 | 55 | 18 |
The Force Intervention Brigade in the drc, Civilian Security and Women Peace and Security
In: Journal of International Humanitarian Legal StudiesSearch for other papers by Gina Heathcote in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Lucia Kula in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This article examines the UN Security Council (unsc) authorised Force Intervention Brigade (fib) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (drc) and the component of the mandate that articulates civilian security as a rationale for justified force. In examining civilian protection (articulated as both civilian security and as the protection of civilians), we explore the parallels between the women, peace and security agenda and the image – versus the reality – of civilian vulnerability in the drc. In focusing on the narratives of civilian security we explore how the ten years of repeat authorisations for the fib replicate heteronormative and colonial tropes that have ultimately undermined security in the drc and, for international lawyers, undermine peacekeeping principles, authorisations of force, and understandings of consent. The contradictions between the Security Council’s commitments to addressing and preventing conflict-related sexual violence and the mobilisation of the fib are drawn on to demonstrate the ways in which gender simultaneously strengthens the Council’s legitimacy and yet produces few spaces of significant change from a feminist perspective. We conclude that not only is the legacy of the fib detrimental to women’s security in the drc given reports of sexual exploitation and abuse (sea) perpetrated by peacekeepers but that the fib has transformed peacekeeping away from peace, embedding militarised responses to a complex humanitarian crisis.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 294 | 294 | 76 |
| Full Text Views | 28 | 28 | 7 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 55 | 55 | 18 |