Gender and Security Toolkit – Tool 3: Defence and Gender

Part of the Gender and Security Toolkit, the Tool:

- explains why it is important for armed forces and other defence institutions to integrate a gender perspective and promote gender equality;

- outlines key legal and policy frameworks that require armed forces to prohibit discrimination, prevent gender-based violence (GBV) and promote the equal participation of women;

- provides a vision of what a defence sector that integrates a gender perspective into its work and advances gender equality will look like;

- offers practical guidance on how armed forces and other defence institutions, supported by effective external oversight, can achieve gender equality and effective integration of a gender perspective;

- presents case studies that illustrate where efforts to integrate a gender perspective and promote gender equality have been successful;

- suggests elements of a self-assessment checklist for defence institutions;

- lists other useful resources.

The Toolkit was published with the support of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR). Its content does not necessarily reflect the policy and position of the OSCE/ODIHR.