Being “(Re) Armed”: Women & Security Sector

Speakers: Air Marshal Rajesh Kumar, PVSM, AVSM (retd.), former Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command; Maj. Gen. Jagatbir Singh, VSM (retd.), Distinguished Fellow, United Services Institute; and Dr. Meeran Chadha Borwankar (IPS retd.), Member of the ‘Core Advisory Group on Criminal Justice System Reforms’ constituted by the National Human Rights Commission

Welcome: Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath, Director, Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP) and Life Trustee, IIC

Moderator: Ms Rita Manchanda, Gender, Peace and Security Specialist and Research Director, South Asia Forum for Human Rights

Launch of Jubilee Edition of Peace Prints: A South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding

Following the legally driven 2020 policy directive on gender parity in the armed forces, the pathway was cleared for equal participation for Indian women in all streams, except the mechanized infantry and armored corps. From the initial uncertain experiment with batches of a few hundred in the 1990s, swelling to nearly 5000 today, women officers have traversed quite a distance, pushing past prejudicial stereotypes and gender barriers to become squadron leaders of combat units, deployed on war ships, command units, and UN Peacekeeping Operations. The panel seeks to explore the implications and challenges of these developments in the security sector.

(Collaboration: Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace)