Gender Aspects of Conflict Interventions: Intended and Unintended Consequences

The report examines the intended and unintended gendered consequences of three international interventions: the UN Mission in Eritrea/Ethiopia (UNMEE), the NATO Stabilization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR), and the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH). It identifies significant gaps between UN norms—such as Resolution 1325—and field realities, highlighting issues like increased prostitution in Eritrea, the failure to treat sexual violence as a security threat in Bosnia, and the need for gender-sensitive training in Hebron. The authors argue that gender mainstreaming is often treated as a 'soft' issue rather than a rational security necessity and recommend that Norway lead efforts in creating gender-aware recruitment databases and a Nordic-Canadian lobby to promote these goals within the UN system.

• The presence of UNMEE in Eritrea contributed to a significantly expanded market for prostitution, driven by the material resource imbalance between peacekeepers and the impoverished local population.
• In the UNMEE mission, female soldiers are identified as critical assets for operational effectiveness because they can access and communicate with local women and children in ways male soldiers cannot.
• The NATO Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina failed to integrate gender issues or sexual violence into its core military security assessments, despite the systematic use of rape as a weapon during the conflict.
• The international presence in Bosnia, including SFOR, is linked to an increase in the trafficking of women and the spread of venereal diseases, with some peacekeepers acting as customers or organizers.
• The Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) lacks a mandate that explicitly addresses gender, leading to a failure to distinguish between the different security needs and expectations of Palestinian men and women.
• In Hebron, gender-mixed patrols and the use of female observers have proven essential for reaching local women and obtaining a more comprehensive overview of the security situation.
• Gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping is frequently marginalized as a 'soft' issue, which results in it receiving fewer resources and less urgency than 'hard' security concerns.
• There is a systemic failure in recruiting women for peacekeeping operations, with the UN having little influence over the national recruitment policies of troop-contributing countries.

APA

OLSSON, L., SKJELSBÆK, I., BARTH, E. F., & HOSTENS, K. (2004). Gender Aspects of Conflict Interventions: Intended and Unintended Consequences. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/3401a401-4fdf-4e68-bd04-1d8138b07951/Gender Aspects of Conflict Interventions Intended and Unintended Consequences.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

OLSSON, LOUISE, INGER SKJELSBÆK, ELISE FREDRIKKE BARTH, and KAREN HOSTENS. Gender Aspects of Conflict Interventions: Intended and Unintended Consequences. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2004. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/3401a401-4fdf-4e68-bd04-1d8138b07951/Gender Aspects of Conflict Interventions Intended and Unintended Consequences.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=OLSSON |first1=LOUISE |last2=SKJELSBÆK |first2=INGER |last3=BARTH |first3=ELISE FREDRIKKE |last4=HOSTENS |first4=KAREN |title=Gender Aspects of Conflict Interventions: Intended and Unintended Consequences |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=March 2004 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/3401a401-4fdf-4e68-bd04-1d8138b07951/Gender Aspects of Conflict Interventions Intended and Unintended Consequences.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{olsson2004gender, author = {OLSSON, LOUISE and SKJELSBÆK, INGER and BARTH, ELISE FREDRIKKE and HOSTENS, KAREN}, title = {{Gender Aspects of Conflict Interventions: Intended and Unintended Consequences}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2004}, month = mar, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/3401a401-4fdf-4e68-bd04-1d8138b07951/Gender Aspects of Conflict Interventions Intended and Unintended Consequences.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }