Women Who Win

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Global Security: Where Did All the Women Go, with Leading Policy Professor Rollie Lal

When we look at the major security challenges that we face in the world today, the same themes come to the surface again and again. And most of them: war, poverty, religious violence, and health insecurity, have deep connections to the role of women in society.

The way we conceive of war and conflict is tied tightly to how women are excluded from the conversation. In decisions on whether to engage or bomb societies, women on both sides of the conflict are seldom consulted. Even in the US, less than 20 percent of senior positions in the Department of Defense are held by women. Believing that women’s absence makes no difference is naïve. Even for rebuilding societies, studies show the impact of education of mothers is far more significant than that of fathers in determining family health and children’s education outcomes.

And this brings us to the well-hidden issue of the double minority. It is critical to bring the voice of the minority woman to the table in global security. This individual is more likely to bring to the table the effects of military action on vulnerable communities. Rather than simply perceiving Yemen or Iraq as an “enemy” that needs to be bombed, a minority woman in the US can call out the effect on the women and children who will inordinately bear the brunt of our actions. The perspective of a Muslim woman on girl’s rights to education or against child marriage in Afghanistan is fundamentally different than that of the male Taliban negotiator. And yet, when dealing with these issues we set a few white men at the table with Afghan men and believe that the situation is resolved.

When minority women are absent, there is literally no one to speak out against the exceedingly white male-biased security policies that we choose. Raising awareness of the absence of women in these spheres is central to dealing with human security. For each of us in every field, calling attention to the absence of women at the table is at the heart of the fight.

Rollie Lal is an Associate Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University where she teaches graduate courses on Transnational Security, Foreign Policy, and International Political Economy. Her research focuses on organized crime, terrorism, and religious extremism. Previously she was an Associate Professor at the U.S. Department of Defense and a political scientist at RAND. Dr. Lal received her Ph.D. in International Relations and her M.A. in Strategic Studies from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

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