Gender Justice and Peacebuilding

Gender justice in peacebuilding contexts can be defined as efforts to recognise, and provide redress for, the gendered harms of war. In post-war contexts, transitional justice mechanisms are often used to address complex legacies of mass violence and widespread human rights abuses. In recent decades, feminist researchers and activists have highlighted the importance of integrating gender justice into peace and justice initiatives. This entry focuses on two key approaches to achieving gender justice in peacebuilding settings. The first, legal justice, is a top-down, formal approach to gender justice. It involves states and/or international organisations establishing courts and tribunals where perpetrators are held accountable under international criminal law. The second, women’s courts and tribunals, represents a bottom-up, informal approach to gender justice. It involves grassroots actors creating informal truth-telling mechanisms, which may better respond to the needs of survivors and the communities in which they live.