Approximately one-quarter of civil war peace agreements contain some reference to gender, prompting the question of whether or not gender provisions within peace agreements are effective tools for improving women’s rights following conflict. As calls by the United Nations and the international community place increasing emphasis on women’s involvement in peace processes, this article generates insight into whether peace agreements, a key component of peace processes, help to spur greater political rights for women. The theoretical expectations of the article posit that peace agreements generate legal frameworks for post-conflict states. Specifically, peace agreements have the potential to tie actors’ hands to new policies and generate shifts in societal norms and practices; the direction of new policies and practices, however, is dependent on the contents of agreements. When agreements are gender-inclusive, they increase the likelihood of improvements in women’s political rights. The expectations are quantitatively tested using civil war peace agreements signed between 1981 and 2011. The findings indicate that the content of agreements matters; gender-inclusive agreements lay the foundations for improvements in women’s political rights following conflict. The article demonstrates that peace agreements, when crafted to include gender provisions, are meaningful tools that international and domestic actors can harness to strengthen women’s rights after civil war.

内战和平协议中约有四分之一提到了性别，这引发了一个问题，即和平协议中的性别规定是否是改善冲突后妇女权利的有效工具。随着联合国和国际社会的呼吁日益强调妇女参与和平进程，本文使人们深入了解和平协定是否是和平进程的重要组成部分，是否有助于激发妇女更大的政治权利。这篇文章的理论期望是，和平协议为冲突后国家创造了法律框架。具体而言，和平协定有可能将行为者的双手与新政策联系起来，并引起社会规范和做法的转变；但是，新政策和做法的方向，取决于协议的内容。当协议包括性别平等时，它们增加了改善妇女政治权利的可能性。使用1981年至2011年签署的内战和平协议对期望进行了定量测试。包含性别平等的协议为冲突后改善妇女的政治权利奠定了基础。该文章表明，和平协议在包含性别规定的前提下，是内战后国际和国内行为者可以用来加强妇女权利的有意义的工具。使用1981年至2011年签署的内战和平协议对期望进行了定量测试。包含性别平等的协议为冲突后改善妇女的政治权利奠定了基础。该文章表明，和平协议在包含性别规定的前提下，是内战后国际和国内行为者可以用来加强妇女权利的有意义的工具。使用1981年至2011年签署的内战和平协议对期望进行了定量测试。包含性别平等的协议为冲突后改善妇女的政治权利奠定了基础。该文章表明，和平协议在包含性别规定的前提下，是内战后国际和国内行为者可以用来加强妇女权利的有意义的工具。