Events

Out of the Shadows: Addressing the gendered impacts of urban violence through the Arms Trade Treaty

Out of the Shadows: Addressing the gendered impacts of urban violence through the Arms Trade Treaty

As the first legally binding treaty to recognize the links between the arms trade and gender-based violence, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) plays a vital role in preventing violence against women and girls and GBV more broadly in many contexts. Article 7.4 is the core ATT provision dealing with GBV. It obliges states parties making export risk assessments to take into account whether the exported items could be used ‘to commit or facilitate acts of gender-based violence or serious acts of violence against women and children. While this provision applies to GBV in conflict and non-conflict settings, most discussions thus far have focused on conflict settings.

This event seeks to fill this gap and expand the discussion on how the ATT and other conventional arms control instruments and frameworks could be leveraged to tackle this problem in urban violence settings. It  will bring together researchers, experts, and policymakers to discuss the gendered dynamics of urban violence and the role of conventional arms control instruments, such as the ATT in curbing its harmful impacts. 

Potential questions for discussion will include: 

• What are the gendered impacts of armed violence in urban settings?
• What kind of response is needed at multilateral, national and local levels to tackle GBV in urban contexts? How can the ATT and other multilateral arms control instruments support progress in this area? 
• What is needed to improve export risk assessments when assessing GBV in urban violence contexts? 
• What are some good practices among states at national and local levels to address GBV through arms control policies (e.g. firearm legislation, initiatives to counter violent masculinities, voluntary disarmament programmes)? 
• What are some good practices related to collecting data on the gendered impacts of armed violence? 

 
Programme

Introductory remarks by Ambassador Fernando Espinosa Olivera,  Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

Panel 

• Magda Coss, Independent Expert on Armed Violence based in Mexico 
• Joseph Dube, Director Disarmament and Arms Control South Africa and member of IANSA
• Alejandra Otamendi, Coordinator of the Reports and Registries Unit, The Women's Office, The National Supreme Court of Justice, Argentina. 
• Grisselle Rodríguez, Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Panama and co-chair of ATT Working Group on Transparency and Reporting

Q&A session

• Moderated by Hana Salama, Researcher Gender and Disarmament at UNIDIR 

Concluding remarks by Kamelia Kemileva, Co Director, Programmes and Administration, Geneva Cities Hub

UNIDIR encourages the participation of representatives and experts specialized or interested in issues pertaining to gender and disarmament.

When & Where

23 August 13:30 -14:50 CEST | online on Zoom

Organizers
This discussion is organized by UNIDIR and Gender Equality Network in Small Arms Control (GENSAC) hosted by Pathfinders and co-sponsored by Canada, Geneva Cities Hub, Mexico and Panama.