TY - UNPB

T1 - Gendered Human Rights Impacts in the Private Military and Security Sector

AU - MacLeod, Sorcha

AU - Van Amstel, Nelleke

PY - 2020/10/3

Y1 - 2020/10/3

N2 - It is well known that the private military and security sector is an overwhelmingly male-dominated industry. This is partially a result of the ‘revolving door phenomenon’ whereby former members of armed forces and police services are employed by Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC) and traditional notions of masculinity that prevail in the armed forces and police are thus replicated in the private sector. Perception of the industry as male plus other barriers also play a role in limiting women’s access to the sector. Consequently, these lead to specific gendered human rights impacts for employees of private security providers, as well as significant and gendered human rights violations perpetrated against local communities in the areas in which they operate.In addition, the private security sector is one that has experienced significant public attention and resultant human rights regulation in the past decade. Nevertheless, the focus given to gender is limited, non-intersectional, and restricted largely to human trafficking and discrimination. This paper explores: (1) the gendered nature of PMSC human rights impacts; and (2) the gender gaps in the regulatory frameworks at international and national levels, including National Action Plans (NAP) on business and human rights and the efforts of the UN Open-ended Inter-Governmental Working Group on PMSCs (OEIGWG) to establish an international regulatory framework. It concludes that the private military and security industry has the potential to cause disproportionately gendered impacts due to its composition and nature, amplified by the power-imbalance between PMSCs and local communities, and their deployment in fragile contexts. Despite this potential for negative impacts, there are considerable gaps in regulation concerning gender which demand urgent attention.

AB - It is well known that the private military and security sector is an overwhelmingly male-dominated industry. This is partially a result of the ‘revolving door phenomenon’ whereby former members of armed forces and police services are employed by Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC) and traditional notions of masculinity that prevail in the armed forces and police are thus replicated in the private sector. Perception of the industry as male plus other barriers also play a role in limiting women’s access to the sector. Consequently, these lead to specific gendered human rights impacts for employees of private security providers, as well as significant and gendered human rights violations perpetrated against local communities in the areas in which they operate.In addition, the private security sector is one that has experienced significant public attention and resultant human rights regulation in the past decade. Nevertheless, the focus given to gender is limited, non-intersectional, and restricted largely to human trafficking and discrimination. This paper explores: (1) the gendered nature of PMSC human rights impacts; and (2) the gender gaps in the regulatory frameworks at international and national levels, including National Action Plans (NAP) on business and human rights and the efforts of the UN Open-ended Inter-Governmental Working Group on PMSCs (OEIGWG) to establish an international regulatory framework. It concludes that the private military and security industry has the potential to cause disproportionately gendered impacts due to its composition and nature, amplified by the power-imbalance between PMSCs and local communities, and their deployment in fragile contexts. Despite this potential for negative impacts, there are considerable gaps in regulation concerning gender which demand urgent attention.

KW - Faculty of Law

KW - PMSC

KW - Private security

KW - Gender

KW - Human Rights

KW - Regulation

M3 - Working paper

BT - Gendered Human Rights Impacts in the Private Military and Security Sector

PB - SSRN: Social Science Research Network

ER -