21. Why Gender Balance Matters for Equity and Peace in the Indo-Pacific
- Author:
- Maryruth Belsey Priebe
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Pacific Forum
- Abstract:
- Who shows up at events and conferences matters. Public and closed-door events are where successes and failures are analyzed; where conceptions about security, what it means, and how we can achieve it bump up against one another; and where problems are solved in novel ways. The greater the diversity of perspectives, the more powerful the outcomes. But within the security sector, predominantly all-male panels—or “manels”—suggest a lack of gender diversity, resulting in the exclusion of women, people of non-binary identities, or both. Manels represent a more serious lack of gender inclusion at leadership levels, making it difficult for women to gain recognition through promotion to senior decision-making positions. The following is a discussion of Pacific Forum’s work to study more than nine years of programming with a goal of understanding historical trends in order to implement and measure policies to increase the number of women attending and speaking at Pacific Forum events. The analysis identified room for improvement, and marks a jumping-off point for Pacific Forum’s work on mainstreaming gender within institutional programming.
- Topic:
- Security, Women, Peace, Equity, and Gender
- Political Geography:
- Indo-Pacific