Top Issues for Women of Color in Peace and Security

Top Issues for Women of Color December 2020 Report @wcapsnet

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Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security & Conflict Transformation

WOMEN OF COLOR ADVANCING PEACE, SECURITY AND CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION Top Issues for Women of Color

December 2020 Report

Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation Top Issues for Women of Color

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2020 U.S. presidential election was undoubtedly the most contentious and unprecedented. Since the race was decided in November, there have also been a string of history-making firsts. These are just a few: More votes were cast in the 2020 presidential election than in any other U.S. election in history, and the turnout rate was the highest in more than a century. Women and women of color can take most of the credit for this. According to exit polls, women voted at higher rates than men and cast more votes than ever before. And for the first time in American history, the nation’s next vice president won’t be a man.

In 2019, with less than a year to go before the presidential election, Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS) conducted its inaugural survey, asking more than 100 members and constituents in the field about the critical issues of peace and security that impacted the lives of women – and that they wanted the presidential candidates to address. This time, in a new 2020 WCAPS survey members responded as election season came to a close. WCAPS asked members (94%) and some non-members from the field (8.6%) about the critical issues of peace and security that need to be front and center in the next administration, regardless of who holds the office. More than 150 individuals responded to the WCAPS survey. They did so with the country’s dual pandemics as a backdrop – COVID19 and roiling systemic racism: past and present.

The 2020 online survey asked participants to identify and prioritize the top four issues that will also impact the nation and women of color. In this survey, the majority of respondents – Young adult (47.7%), Black/African American (44.4%) women (99.3%) working in the areas of peace, security, and conflict (34%) – agreed that these should be the top four, priority issues: 1. Gender Justice 2. Human Rights 3. Health (One Health and Global Health Security) 4. Immigration, Migration, and Refugees For nearly a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has cast a long shadow over issues of gender equity, human rights, health, and immigration and migration. And it matters to women and women of color. “The needs laid bare by the pandemic should be driving decision-making on national investment in peacebuilding, education, health and other vital public programs with women fully included in all aspects of those considerations,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women.

“When we change the face of politics, realize the lessons of decades of women’s activism, alter perspective on budgets for social services rather than weapons, we will

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Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation Top Issues for Women of Color

be positioned to sustain peace, overcome the climate crisis, recover from this pandemic, or prevent the next one.

In addition to tagging those four transformative issues, WCAPS members and other survey respondents frequently included these among their priorities: ยง Conflict prevention, peacekeeping, and peacemaking ยง Diplomacy ยง National security strategies ยง Community engagement Climate change was the key issue that respondents to the 2019 WCAPS survey said the presidential candidates should address in their platform and by their administration. In order of importance, respondents in 2019 followed climate change with gender equity and immigration and migration as priorities.

Comparatively, climate change ranked lower, or not at all in the 2020 WCAPS survey.

And issues of immigration, migration, and refugees remained among the pressing matters that the racially and ethnically diverse respondents said intersect the lives and livelihoods of women of color and should be addressed by the next administration.

But while the new WCAPS survey did not include the issue of racial equity among its focus areas, it still captured observations about related issues. This suggest that racial equity concerns women of color in the country. In March, the police killed 26year old Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman, in her apartment. An officer apprehended George Floyd on a Minnesota street, and dug a knee into his neck for nearly 9 minutes, killing him in May. Their killings and those of countless other Black men and women at the hands of police have touched off a racial reckoning in the United States.

At the same time, in the U.S. and worldwide, a public health crisis is upending lives and crippling systems and societies, with the burden disproportionately shouldered by women, especially women of color.1 The results of the 2020 WCAPS survey are detailed in the following report.

1

United Nations Security Council (2020). Report of the Secretary-General on women peace and security (S/2020/946)

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Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation Top Issues for Women of Color

RESULTS OF ANALYSIS WCAPS asked respondents to list identify and list what they considered the top four issues (in order of importance) that impact women of color in the United States and must be addressed in the next administration The top issues were analyzed by priority. The results are summarized in the following tables: Priority 1

Frequency

Percent

Gender Justice Health, One Health, and Global Health Security Human Rights Climate Change & Environment Conflict Prevention, Peacekeeping & Peacemaking

21 17 12 11 10

13.9 11.3 7.9 7.3 6.6

Priority 2 Gender Justice Human Rights Immigration, Migration & Refugees Climate Change & Environment Health, One Health & Global Health Security Conflict Prevention, Peacekeeping & Peacemaking

Frequency 21 16 15 14 14 11

Percent 13.9 10.6 9.9 9.3 9.3 7.3

Priority 3

Frequency

Percent

Gender Justice Health, One Health & Global Health Security Human Rights Climate Change & Environment Conflict Prevention, Peacekeeping & Peacemaking

18 15 11 10 10

11.9 9.9 7.3 6.6 6.6

Priority 4

Frequency

Percent

Gender Justice Health, One Health & Global Health Security Immigration, Migration & Refugees Diplomacy Human Rights

15 11 8 6 6

9.9 7.3 5.3 4.0 4.0

Summary: The Top Four Issues Prioritized 1. Gender Justice 2. Human Rights, 3. Health, One Heath & Global Health Security 4. Immigration, Migration & Refugees

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Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation Top Issues for Women of Color

ABOUT THE SURVEY Descriptive Statistics Question Are you a WCAPS member?

What is your age group?

What gender do you identify as?

Which race/ethnicity best describes you?

What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?

Response

Frequency

Percent

Yes

138

91.4

No

13

8.6

18-24

15

9.9

25-34

72

47.7

35-44

37

24.5

45-54

15

9.9

55-64

8

5.3

65+

4

2.6

Female

150

99.3

Male

0

0

Prefer not to say

1

.7

Other (please specify)

8

5.3

Asian / Pacific Islander

37

24.5

Black or African American

67

44.4

Bi-racial / Mixed

14

9.3

Hispanic or Latinx

14

9.3

Middle Eastern or North African

8

5.3

White / Caucasian

2

1.3

Prefer not to say

1

.7

High school degree or equivalent (e.g., GED)

3

2.0

Some college but no degree

2

1.3

Bachelor degree

17

11.3

Graduate degree

129

85.4

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Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation Top Issues for Women of Color

Respondents: Areas of Specialization Areas of Specialization

N

Percent

Percent Cases

52

7.80%

34.40%

International Development

50

7.50%

33.10%

Human Rights

48

7.20%

31.80%

Diplomacy

45

6.80%

29.80%

Academia & Research

40

6.00%

26.50%

Gender Justice

40

6.00%

26.50%

Community Engagement

35

5.30%

23.20%

National Security Strategies

34

5.10%

22.50%

Immigration, Migration & Refugees

27

4.10%

17.90%

Others

27

4.10%

17.90%

Defense and Intelligence

25

3.80%

16.60%

Regional Focus

24

3.60%

15.90%

Law

19

2.90%

12.60%

Chemical, Biological, Radiological & Nuclear Policy

18

2.70%

11.90%

Cyber Security & Emerging Technologies

18

2.70%

11.90%

Health, One Health & Global Health Security

18

2.70%

11.90%

Outreach

18

2.70%

11.90%

Regional Focus

18

2.70%

11.90%

Congress

17

2.60%

11.30%

Public-Private Partnerships

15

2.30%

9.90%

Civil-Military Relations

11

1.70%

7.30%

Art & Policy

9

1.40%

6.00%

Media

9

1.40%

6.00%

Climate Change & Environment

8

1.20%

5.30%

Entrepreneurship

8

1.20%

5.30%

Homeland Security

8

1.20%

5.30%

Illicit Trafficking

8

1.20%

5.30%

International Trade

8

1.20%

5.30%

STEM

7

1.10%

4.60%

Total

664

100.0%

439.7%

Conflict Prevention, Peacemaking

Responses Peacekeeping

&

of

Majority (34.4%) of the respondents are specialized in conflict prevention, peacekeeping & Peacemaking, 33.1% in International Development, 31.8% in Human Rights, 29.8% in Diplomacy, 26.5% each in Academia & Research, Gender Justice, 23.2% in Community Engagement.

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