Browsing by Author "Whetstone, Crystal"

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Open Access
A call for feminist insights in cybersecurity: implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security in cyberspace
(Oxford University Press, 2024-03-21) Whetstone, Crystal; Luna, K.C.; Mhajne, Anwar; Henshaw, Alexis
This chapter is a call for the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and the WPS agenda to be applied within cyberspace. Given the extent of cyberspace, the chapter argues that applying UNSCR 1325 to the virtual sphere will facilitate attention and resources to better address women’s security from a holistic perspective. The chapter focuses on both conflict-affected countries where gender-based violence increases in war environments and fragile states where cybercrime increases due to the vulnerabilities of the population. Following a critical rereading of UNSCR 1325, the chapter outlines a theoretical framework that builds on the work of previous feminist international relations (IR) scholars who have called for the expansion of UNSCR 1325 in innovative ways. The chapter highlights five areas where UNSCR 1325 and the WPS agenda can move forward in scholarship, advocacy, and policymaking to better secure women, girls, and other minorities in cyberspace.
Open Access
Disrupting the saviour politics in the women, peace and security agenda in the global south: grassroots women creating gender norms in Nepal and Sri Lanka
(Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., 2023-03-25) Whetstone, Crystal; K. C., Luna
Saviour politics permeates some understandings of global gender norms by those who construct the Global North as the origin of global gender norms, and less attention is given to how saviour politics functions within the Global South, wielded by some privileged women against grassroots women. We argue that grassroots Global South women, despite their marginalisation, are global gender norms actors and deserve greater decision-making power on the local and international stages. We show how the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and the broader WPS agenda focus on global gender norms construction in Nepal and Sri Lanka. We rely on qualitative methods. We highlight work done by grassroots women from diverse castes, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, abilities, education and social locations that construct global gender norms. This article adds to the WPS, Global South-Global North relations and global gender norms building.
Open Access
Understanding intersectionality and vulnerable populations: A missing part in building disaster resilient communities?
(Routledge, 2023-01-31) Whetstone, Crystal; Demiröz, Fatih; Knepper, Hillary J.; Evans, Michelle D.; Henley, Tiffany J.
This chapter explores the slow but growing inclusion of intersectionality in crisis management. Intersectionality is a framework that analyzes overlapping and compounding oppressions and/or privileges that individuals and social groups experience. We ask: What does the lens of intersectionality do for crisis management? Following a review of the extant literature, we trace the evolution of intersectionality in crisis management scholarship and unpack how this framework can improve the effectiveness of crisis management in terms of resilience. We argue that intersectionality is a key theoretical concept for crisis management when people are the focus, as in a human security perspective. We urge that resilience planning regarding a community or population should follow an intersectional approach to ensure effective crisis management. This chapter contributes to the scholarship on crisis management from a human security perspective by bringing in critical theory, specifically from an intersectional perspective.
Open Access
Women, gender roles and gender-based violence after war
(Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 2024-01-01) Luna K.C.; Whetstone, Crystal
Mainstream postwar studies on violence exclusively focus on violence between previously warring factions and provide less attention to how gender-based violence (GBV) is a barrier to gender equality and women's empowerment. This chapter presents women's experiences of GBV in postwar Nepal and Sri Lanka and asks three questions. (1) How do different forms of GBV erode women's empowerment? (2) How do GBV experiences differ amongst diverse castes (Dalit women, lower-caste women), ethnic groups (Tamil and Muslim women), and regional backgrounds? (3) What possibilities do women see to overcome GBV in Nepal and Sri Lanka? The chapter suggests that GBV functions as a structural barrier that undermines women's empowerment in postwar societies socially, economically, and politically. Methodologically, we build on our previous work in Nepal and Sri and rely on secondary sources such as a review of policy, articles, media, and local NGO documents. We draw upon gender and conflict studies, postwar GBV studies, and intersectionality literature. © Gayle Kaufman, Michael Stambolis-Ruhstorfer, Steven Roberts & Brittany Ralph 2024.
Open Access
Women, peace and security: digitalization and cyber feminist solidarity building in the global South
(Elsevier Ltd, 2024-07-24) Luna, K.C.; Whetstone, Crystal
Since its launch in 2000, the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and resulting WPS agenda are widely used by intergovernmental, governmental, and civil society actors to advance women's participation in peace and security matters. This paper investigates WPS-cyber sphere connections to uncover the implications for the WPS agenda in the digital realm. We ask: How can digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) facilitate solidarity building and efforts to support the WPS agenda? Building on WPS scholarship and cyberfeminism, we explore our question through Nepal and Sri Lanka, both postwar countries located in South Asia that demonstrate digital feminist future possibilities. Using primary sources from social media and secondary publications, we argue that there is potential for solidarity building in WPS digital networks. This paper contributes to understanding the digitalization of women's movements, building digital feminist solidarity, and the cyber realm's potential for the WPS agenda.