A Platform of Top Peace, Security & Foreign Policy Issues Concerning Women of Color in the United States

A Message from the Executive

The policy priorities outlined in this document will hopefully provide useful information to candidates for the 2020 Presidential election on issues of importance to women of color in the areas of peace, security, conflict transformation and foreign policy. The information included here is based on surveys with over 100 women of color (WOC), the majority of whom are members of WCAPS but also WOC who came across the survey through online platforms and the WCAPS website. While the original purpose of this survey is to provide information to the candidates, this survey will be repeated regularly, the next one prior to the 2020 election, to gauge once again the priority of women of color on the important issues of peace and security.

Thank you,

Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins Founder and Executive Director Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation

WITH A LESS THAN A YEAR TO GO BEFORE THE 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, a slate of Democratic candidates has been vying to show voters that they are the ideal person to lead the country for the next four years. Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS) asked its members to weigh in on issues they believe are most important in the areas of peace, security, and conflict transformation (PS&C), to include national security and foreign policy. While candidates have debated some of these issues, there is plenty of space for candidates to focus more attention and devise proposed solutions on areas that are of most concern to women of color.

While the candidates have indicated an understanding and have taken positions on traditional foreign policy issues, for example, when it means a strong military or protecting the country from terrorism, and to a varying degree, weapons of mass destruction, issues of PS&C often take a backseat to other areas of concern. 1

To help gain an understanding of the most important issues to women of color in the fields of PS&C, WCAPS gathered over 100 women of color and allies at a workshop in Washington, D.C., in July 2019. They represented leaders, scholars, students, practitioners, and professionals in the fields of international peace, security, conflict transformation,

national security, and foreign policy. The gathering was an opportunity to discuss American foreign policy and the need for diverse perspectives regarding those policies in addressing the country’s urgent challenges. We also used the forum to survey participants about the key issues they want the 2020 presidential candidates to address and promote in the participant’s areas of work.

The foreign policy challenges facing the United States today are not tidy. What emerged from WCAPS discussions and prior WCAPS events is this recurring focus —issues of foreign policy defy the global and domestic boxes that some, including the presidential candidates, often use to compartmentalize them. Yet, to adequately address the impact of global threats at home, candidates should continuously reflect on global threats to peace and security. Climate change and general destruction of our environment, and even issues of nonproliferation — the most salient foreign policy issues — have a direct domestic impact, particularly on women of color.

Global threats are not going away. But as the global community continues to face issues related to worldwide health security, peacekeeping, weapons of mass destruction nonproliferation, climate change, cybersecurity, human trafficking, and the intersection of other areas of international security, absent are the significant or sustained voices of women of color, particularly in the policymaking circles. They are among the most affected by

“Addressing global issues and threats demand a variety of perspectives.”

emerging global threats but the least heard. In many parts of the world, women of color step up to lead communities and bear the brunt of caregiving and the threats that come with providing that care, as in times of food and water scarcity as a result of climate change. They can also play pivotal roles in negotiating peaceful outcomes.

A growing body of evidence shows “that women’s contributions to conflict prevention and resolution reduce conflict and improve stability.” 2 Further, “a qualitative review of forty peace and constitutiondrafting negotiations since 1990 found that parties were significantly more likely to agree to talks and subsequently reach an agreement when women’s groups exercised strong influence on the negotiation process, as compared to when they had little or no influence,” according to a Council on Foreign Relations report which provides a closer look. 3

Addressing global issues and threats demand a variety of perspectives. That is why WCAPS helps to ensure that women of color are where they need to be — at the policymaking tables on issues of PS&C. With the critical 2020 presidential election before us, WCAPS wants to seize the opportunity to present the voices and perspectives of women of color — now, through election day, and beyond. This platform document is a starting place to highlight and frame the issues that women of color believe are most important regarding peace and security, with a global-to-the-domestic lens. WCAPS will use this information and these perspectives to encourage dialogue and strategies for engaging in meaningful policy discussions on an international scale now, and in the future as we continue to explore these themes. WCAPS will also continue to build on these themes as the organization explores the views of its members on issues of peace, security, conflict transformation, and national security.

This is a snapshot of the respondents who attended the July 2019 WCAPS event. Most (58%) of the women of color were ages 20-35. The second largest group (32%) were ages 35-45. • Most (34.7%) work, conduct research, and study in the foreign policy field, which they say lacks racial diversity (74%) and gender diversity (40%). • Most (52.6%) represent the nonprofit sector. As experts, practitioners, and students in the field, 51% of respondents said that they are not surprised that the current slate of presidential candidates has not engaged enough, during the debates and on the campaign trail, on issues of foreign policy.

The respondents identified the following priorities in 2019 as the most pressing issues and their impact on women of color as reflected in our surveys and discussions: climate change, gender equity, and immigration and migration.

The information below on the top three challenges also includes not just responses from the attendees at the July 22 event, but also an additional 80 women who were not at the event but who provided their views on other platforms and events (for example, prior surveys and at WCAPS programs) regarding issues of peace and security of importance to women of color.

But as the global community continues to face issues […] absent are the significant or sustained voices of women of color, particularly in the policymaking circles.

Climate Change

AS THE WORLD FACES ONE OF ITS GREATEST THREATS TO sustainability, well-being and human health, it’s no surprise that WCAPS members and other women of color surveyed placed climate change at the top of the list. Similarly, polls released in April 2019 show Democratic primary voters also rate climate change as one of their highest priorities. 4

While climate change and its impact on the environment is still in debate in some circles in the United States, many other countries and the United Nations (UN) are among those that call climate change “the defining issue of our time.” 5

However, in global and domestic forums that discuss troubling issues facing the planet, Osub Ahmed, a policy analyst for women’s health and rights at the Center for American Progress, says “less discussed is the impact of climate change on certain communities, particularly women and people of color.” 6 While climate change affects everyone, women and men experience the impacts differently, and women are often disproportionately negatively affected. In addition, climate change can also impact security, particularly for those who are already most vulnerable in many societies, often women, girls, gender minorities and LGBTQIA, persons with disabilities and most especially those with intersecting marginalized identities. Findings from the UN support this view. Of those who are displaced by climate change, 80% are women. Furthermore:

Despite growing recognition of the differential vulnerabilities as well as the unique experiences and skills women and men bring to the development and environmental sustainability efforts, women still have less economic, political and legal clout and are hence less able to cope with—and are more exposed to—the adverse effects of the changing climate. 7

The UN report went on to say that resilient women face these significant “structural and sociocultural barriers,” but still emerge “powerful agents of change and continue to make increasing and significant contributions to sustainable development.” 8

Consider this snapshot of the impact climate change has had on the lives of women in urban and in rural areas:

• In Louisiana, United States, following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, African-American women were among the worst affected, with “more than half the poor families in [New Orleans] were headed by single mothers,” who are “reliant on interdependent community networks for their everyday survival and resources.” 9 The hurricane and the subsequent displacement eroded these networks,” Jacquelyn Litt of Rutgers University said, placing “women and their children at much greater risk.” 10

• In one province in Indonesia, more than 70 percent of people who died in the 2004 Asian tsunami were women. 11

• In Bangladesh, following extreme climaterelated flooding, child marriage rates soared. 12 As women of color working in peace and security, WCAPS knows that across the globe, climate change processes and impacts do not affect all equally. In fact, climate change exacerbates the complex interactions between gender-based social discrimination and race-based disparities.

Yet, despite the gendered impacts of climate change on women of color, they are the people who have most often been excluded, silenced, or ignored within policy processes and activities linked to climate change. This matters when there are significant implications from U.S. foreign policy, international security, human mobility, disease transmission, and adaptation efforts.

What can lead to change and the inclusion of diverse voices on these issues? The integration of an intersectional gender perspective into existing and future climate policy frameworks that will help create a platform for diverse voices. Women of color must have a seat at the table and their contributions must be acknowledged and incorporated within climate-related policy discussions and responses. Candidates should take these factors into account and not only continue to speak to climate change issues but also view them through a cultural and gender equity lens.

“Despite the gendered impacts of climate change on women of color, they are the people who have most often been excluded, silenced, or ignored within policy processes and activities linked to climate change.”

Gender Equity

TOO OFTEN, GENDER EQUITY IS ESCHEWED AS SOLELY A “WOMAN’S ISSUE.” It is not. The women WCAPS surveyed overwhelmingly considered gender equity among the top issues that presidential candidates should care about. That’s because those surveyed also understand how achieving gender equity vastly impacts the nation’s workforce and global competitiveness. And further, how gender equity is necessary to realize democracy and justice.

Achieving peace and security takes more than casting a vote or taking a position. Imagine the impact that the perspectives of women of color could have when reflected within policy, procedures and discussions.

The role of women in conflict resolution provides one of the best examples for how, and why, a focus on gender equity is needed in the United States. History and the quantitative evidence bear witness to the power of gender equity and the ability of women to successfully lead on conflict resolution, broker peace and security, cultivate stability between and within states, and reduce discord—and more when they are included and are at the table. 13,14 We know, for example, the following: •

• The participation of civil society groups, including women’s organizations, makes a peace agreement, 64 % less likely to fail. 15 Women’s participation increases the probability of a peace agreement lasting at least 15 years by 35%. 16

Consider this observation from Marie O’Reilly, Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, and Thania Paffenholz, in their report from the International Peace Institute: “If the goal of a peace process is only to end violence, then women — who are rarely the belligerents — are unlikely to be considered legitimate participants. If the goal is to build peace, however, it makes sense to gain more diverse inputs from the rest of society.” 17

Until there are significant voices of women of color in the development, decision-making and implementation of policy, and at the table, we will not know — we have yet to fully appreciate, their impact on the course of U.S. foreign policy. 

Immigration and Migration

WOMEN HAVE HISTORICALLY ACCOUNTED FOR NEARLY 50% OF IMMIGRANTS. 18 But today, even as their ranks swell and exceed those of the past, immigration is rarely considered a story with women at the center, or an issue and policy concern impacting women and girls. For decades, when reporting on international migration was viewed through an economic and labor lens, the perception was that men, not women were on the move. Until the 1970s, the belief was that the participation of women in international migration was negligible. 19 Of course, such perceptions had little grounding in quantitative evidence or data classified by gender. Today, research from organizations like the Institute for Women’s Policy Research has changed that thinking and grounded those perceptions in evidence. 20

The data in the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s “Status of Women in the States” project tells us that women are making long and treacherous journeys from their home to a new one in the United States and elsewhere in the world. And it is women who bear the heaviest load— to realize safety, freedom, and a better quality of life for their children, themselves, and their families.

Female migration is a key constituent of global migration. About 21 million female immigrants live in the United States, the primary destination for migrants, making up just over 13% of the nation’s female population. 21 Further, they are overwhelmingly the ones who attain legal status (70%) through a familybased visa, but a severe backlog makes the wait to be reunited with their families arduous and long, with wait times sometimes reaching into the decades. 22

When examining the labor force, undocumented women make up a significant contingency of care services, with nearly two-thirds as informal childcare and eldercare providers or in other industries, or as unpaid laborers in the home. 23

There is no doubt that a new woman-focused, fair, and humane U.S. immigration policy and process is needed. Looking forward, WCAPS agrees with many points made by the National Organization for Women (NOW) outlined below that would help promote policies that supporting women of color particularly and ensuring a prudential immigration process. 24

• A clear roadmap to citizenship without disadvantaging those who cannot provide proof of work because their labor has been contingent, informal or unverifiable. • Keep families together by eliminating the decades-long backlog of family-based visas, and respect the loving, committed relationships of LGBT families. • Recognize the value of the work women do by including professions where women predominate and protect women in asserting their labor and civil rights. • Protect survivors of violence by providing adequate services for asylum seekers and expanding the number of U-visas for survivors of trafficking and domestic violence. • Promote full integration of immigrant women into the economic, social and political life of their new communities by providing assistance for legalization, citizenship, English language acquisition, and other services. 

“[W]omen are making long and treacherous journeys from their home to a new one in the United States and elsewhere in the world. And it is women who bear the heaviest load.”

WCAPS also says…

IN ADDITION TO THIS PRIORITY LIST OF CLIMATE CHANGE, GENDER EQUITYAND IMMIGRATION AND MIGRATION ISSUES, those WCAPS surveyed also compiled other issues that they say impact women of color. These are issues that also threaten their peace and security in the United States and globally. These are issues that those surveyed also want presidential candidates to discuss on the campaign trail and be the subject of debate. This is a sampling of their concerns and solutions:

• “Address issues of …civil rights (including gerrymandering and voting rights). These are both areas relevant to security discourse in our country and which has substantive impact on women whose participation in shaping related policies and should be bolstered.” • “Investing in diversity diplomacy.” • “Prioritizing meetings and on-the-ground visits with women who are leading grassroots organizations and advocacy movements (domestic and abroad) in defense of gender equity and women in peace and security.” • “There must be a focus on access to healthcare for ALL women and policies to reduce gender-based violence incidents, especially gun violence.” • “Local is global, global is local. What happens in one place impacts another. We are all connected.”

photo credit: T. Chick McClure (@tchickmcclure), Unsplash

photo credit: Andrew Neel (@andrewtneel), Unsplash

Conclusion

WOMEN OF COLOR IN THE U.S. ARE AN IMPORTANT VOTING CONSTITUENCY. 25 The 2018 elections reaffirmed just how much weight they hold says Aimee Allison, founder of She the People. 26 According to the data firm Catalist: women of color have the strongest propensity to vote Democratic; 88% supported Democrats in the 2018 midterms, compared with 48% of White women and 38% of White men. 27

Among other indicators Allison points to is the substantial share of the eligible electorate that women of color hold in the “Sun Belt: 21 percent in Georgia; 15 percent in North Carolina; and 11 percent in Texas.” 28 Their turnout at the polls in 2016 is another — 63.7 % of Black women, 50 % of Hispanic women, and 48.4 % of Asian/Pacific Islander — according to Catalist. 29

As researchers, scholars, practitioners, students, and experts in peace, security, foreign policy and national security fields, we need candidates to know that these issues matter, and so do women of color. They are 20 million strong in the United States— women of color need to know where the candidates stand on issues that matter to them.

For more information, visit the website of Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation — https://www.wcaps.org

CONTACT

Email Web Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn wcaps@wcapsnet.org www.wcaps.org wcapsnet @wcapsnet @wcapsnet

women-of-color-advancing-peace-security-and-conflict-transformation

At WCAPS, we believe global issues demand a variety of perspectives. That’s why we created a platform devoted to women of color that cultivates a strong voice and network for its members while encouraging dialogue and strategies for engaging in policy discussions on an international scale. Through our dedication to mentorships and partnerships and our passion for changing the global community landscape, we remain committed to achieving our vision of advancing the leadership and professional development of women of color in the fields of international peace, security, and conflict transformation. While the global community is faced with issues related to worldwide health security, peacekeeping, weapons of mass destruction nonproliferation, and the intersection of other areas of international security, there is no significant or sustained voice from women of color who are often the most affected and who are also community leaders in many parts of the world. We want to change that.