Twenty-five Years of Men, Boys and Masculinities in the WPS Agenda

The conflation of ‘gender’ with ‘women’ is a persistent problem in peace and security, including in the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda’s policy and implementation ecosystem. Decision makers still resist a definition of gender that includes men and boys, as well as LGBTQ+ people. Despite this, the gendered experiences of these groups and how those experiences are formed are critical to understanding social cohesion, insecurity and armed conflict and its effects more widely.

This SIPRI Research Policy Paper explores how men and boys can be considered in the WPS agenda’s implementation beyond simply ‘adding men and stirring’. While there is a some history of men and masculinities being included in discussions on the agenda, long-term, meaningful overlap between work on men and masculinities and the WPS agenda remains rare. In a moment of increased geopolitical tensions and fast-advancing wars, it is essential that civil society, researchers and states alike include men and masculinities across the four pillars of the WPS agenda.