INCLUDING women in the peacekeeping process improves the prospects of success for an operation – because females can defuse a male-dominated stand-off, experts have revealed.
Professor Gerard DeGroot, a historian from the University of St Andrews, believes that the presence of female soldiers in peacekeeping units not only encourages more civilised behaviour among male soldiers, but provides good role models for mostly fe
male refugees.
The academic will outline the important role of women in the peacekeeping process at a major conference in Rwanda this weekend. He will travel to Kigali to address an international event aimed at increasing the participation of female soldiers, police officers and civilian personnel in peacekeeping missions.
Prof DeGroot, one of the few male experts on the role of female soldiers, will explore the gender imbalance issue and outline why the inclusion of female soldiers in such units tends to improve the performance of the unit as a whole.
Speaking in advance of the conference, he said: "The inclusion of women changes the dynamic and makes it more like a normal, civilised society.
"Soldiers do some pretty nasty things when they're abroad," he said. "You get a masculine test of virility. The women have a calming effect and can defuse a tense stand-off."
The percentage of women in peacekeeping forces is very low – about 2 per cent – and he believes this causes problems when the vast majority of refugees are women and children.
"During the UN operation in Somalia in 1993, local women who ventured outside the refugee camps to collect firewood were frequently raped by peacekeepers," he said.
Prof DeGroot has been involved in the research for the past ten years, acting as a consultant to the UN, Nato and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
His work contributed to the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which formally recognises the need to mainstream gender issues in UN operations.
Prof DeGroot will examine the behaviour of male soldiers during notorious peacekeeping missions when not accompanied by women, and the dynamic created when women take part in peacekeeping operations.
He added: "Further problems result from the fact that male peacekeepers too often act like conquering soldiers. The most notable UN successes had a greater-than-normal female presence. In both operations, the proportion of females was just under 50 per cent.
"There is no evidence that women make better peacekeepers, but a great deal of evidence to suggest that the presence of women improves an operation's chances of success. A better gender balance means that the operation more closely resembles civilian society.
"Its members are therefore more likely to observe social conventions that define civilised behaviour."
Dr Patrick Green, a senior lecturer in psychology at Heriot-Watt University, said:
"I think it is true that there is a strong audience effect and men tend to moderate their aggressive behaviour with more women in the audience.
"Men are more prone to aggressive displays which can run out of control sometimes. In the presence of women, that is less likely to happen."
The full article contains 515 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
