An Expression of Feminist Politics and Achievements and Impediments to Implementation

This chapter examines the substantive issues found at the intersection of peacekeeping and feminist and gender debates on peacekeeping and gender mainstreaming. It begins with a summary of the impact of UNSCR 1325, 23 years after its adoption, and reviews the broader concept of gender mainstreaming before addressing the issues that influence gender equality in peacekeeping operations. It primarily focuses on UN actions to progress UNSCR 1325 implementation via gender mainstreaming, but it also includes contextual issues, including cultural norms and relativism, the biology of gender and sexual violence as a weapon of war, to better understand the filters through which the resolution is either implemented effectively or obstructed.