Women in Arms
This article was originally published by The Boston Globe.
Empowering women living in the midst of conflict and civil unrest may be one of the most sensible and effective ways to build peace.
“The hypothesis is that women are quicker to compromise, that they know how to get into places that men can’t go because they’re less threatening, that they have their fingers on the pulse of the community, etc.” says Swanee Hunt, founder and chair of the Institute for Inclusive Security, which promotes women’s participation to achieve peace and stability in societies all over the world.
These five women exemplify that theory. They have many things in common, but fundamentally they are fighting for gender equality in extremely patriarchal societies. They were in the Boston area recently to participate in a weeklong symposium Hunt’s Institute hosts every year for women leaders from conflict zones or new democracies.
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