ABSTRACT

The UN. has intensified efforts to recruit female peacekeepers for peacekeeping missions. From 2006 to 2014, the number of female military personnel in UN peacekeeping missions nearly tripled. The theory driving female recruitment is that female peacekeepers employ distinctive skills that make units more effective along a variety of dimensions. Yet skeptics argue that deeper studies are needed. This paper explores the theoretical mechanisms through which female military personnel are thought to increase the effectiveness of peacekeeping units. Using new data, we document variation in female participation across missions over time, and we explore the impact of female ratio balancing on various conflict outcomes, including the level of female representation in post-conflict political institutions, the prevalence of sexual violence in armed conflict, and the durability of peace. We find evidence that a greater proportion of female personnel is systematically associated with greater implementation of women’s rights provisions and a greater willingness to report rape, and we find no evidence of negative consequences for the risk of conflict recurrence. We conclude that the inclusion of more female peacekeepers in UN peacekeeping does not reduce the ability to realize mission goals.

摘要

联合国。加大了为维和特派团征聘女性维和人员的力度。从 2006 年到 2014 年，联合国维和行动中的女性军事人员数量几乎增加了两倍。推动女性招募的理论是，女性维和人员采用独特的技能，使部队在各个方面都更加有效。然而，怀疑论者认为需要进行更深入的研究。本文探讨了女性军事人员被认为可以提高维和部队效力的理论机制。使用新数据，我们记录了不同任务中女性参与的变化，并探讨了女性比例平衡对各种冲突结果的影响，包括冲突后政治机构中的女性代表水平、武装冲突中性暴力的普遍性, 和和平的持久性。我们发现有证据表明，女性人员比例的增加与女性权利条款的更大实施和报告强奸的更大意愿系统地相关，我们没有发现任何证据表明对冲突再次发生的风险产生负面影响。我们得出结论，将更多女性维和人员纳入联合国维和行动并不会降低实现任务目标的能力。