Security, Gender and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: The Need for a “Woman Question” When Engaging in Reconstruction

In the field of post-conflict reconstruction, gender-related issues are mostly analyzed through a legal or a development paradigm. These conditions, coupled with a general disinclination by the international community — the industrialized, western countries — to challenge cultural norms, whether real or imagined, allows for a security-first and/or a security-development nexus to take precedence regarding post-conflict reconstruction. This paper advances the argument that by viewing gender issues as existential to the security of a state transitioning out of conflict, as opposed to viewing gender as a development or a legal issue, makes it possible to engage in real reconstruction, which means addressing the gender bias that dominates many societies.