ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that gender beliefs that influence both the moral framework according to which the civilian protection regime has developed historically and the manner in which civilian protection operations manifest in situations of armed conflict. Transnational advocates of the civilian protection norm are likely to employ images of women and children in their appeals, reports, condemnations and press releases because of the assumed persuasive power of these representations. Jones has suggested that the UN establish a male-focused equivalent of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on Violence Against Women, The Special Rapporteur for Gender-Based Violence Against Men could serve as the catalyst for educational and activist efforts aimed at sensitizing both publics and governments to the special vulnerabilities of battle-age males in conflict, along with other forms of gender-based violence affecting males. Real-world actors would benefit greatly from some systematic research that assessed the potential for overcoming this dilemma.
