ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ways in which official and unofficial advocacy efforts broaden our conception of securitization, including who counts as securitizing actors and audiences. In light of the weak consideration given to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 within official circles after its adoption in 2000, it became evident that greater political will was needed to convince state-based security actors of the security threat posed by sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). This political will was generated by the entry of new actors and audiences into the field of security. Analyzing the case of western advocacy around SGBV in Congo, we show how various non-state actors adopted security discourses as a way of putting pressure on official security actors. This included the promulgation of a simplifying narrative of women’s protection in armed conflict and strategic rape as a weapon of war that gained traction with mass audiences. Drawing on media coverage, films, websites, campaign materials, reports, and semi-structured interviews with over 30 humanitarian practitioners, human rights advocates, and representatives of inter-governmental organizations in New York, London, Washington, D.C., and Boston from 2015–2017, we argue that security discourses can be effectively adopted by new actors and audiences in ways that count as securitizing moves.
