The transformative power of women as architects of peace, security, and justice
The Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons convened from 3 to 7 March 2025 in New York City, with Ambassador Akan Rakhmetullin of Kazakhstan presiding. In the face of rising nuclear tensions and increasing misogyny globally, the Treaty has never been more important.
Scottish Delegates to 3MSP from UN House Scotland, Scottish CND, Secure Scotland and Scottish WILPF, as well as Bill Kidd MSP.
A strong Scottish civil society contingency attended this year, including UN House Scotland, Scottish CND, and Secure Scotland, who were able to accredit Scottish WILPF. The latter was represented by two delegates, Áine Beattie and Janet Fenton (Secure Scotland’s Organiser), who amplified both Scottish support for the elimination of nuclear weapons, and recognition of their gendered harms.
Nuclear Ban Week New York 2025 kicked off with an ICAN Campaigner meeting at the iconic Riverside Church on Sunday 2nd March. At 3MSP, SWILPF delegates attended a full schedule of plenary sessions and creative side events. During which, we spoke to experts in the field and shared a feminist peace perspective on the proceedings, whilst raising awareness of WILPF’s values, projects, and strategic vision. Janet Fenton stated, “I’ve been hearing so much positive evidence here in New York for how the TPNW could become universal that makes me so hopeful that Scotland can get rid of these things and start to make a real contribution to international peace and real common security when we leave all these colonial and patriarchal practices behind and eliminate nuclear violence completely.” At 3MSP, 86 countries and 163 civil society organisations alike focused discussions on advancing the Treaty’s implementation and fostering multilateral cooperation for nuclear disarmament. TPNW states parties strongly condemned nuclear deterrence and adopted a Declaration on the final day that agreed that the most effective way to advance global security from nuclear weapons is to increase the number of countries party to the Treaty, which now has 94 signatories and 73 states parties. Ray Acheson, WILPF neatly surmised the 3MSP proceedings, stating, “The world’s a mess and nuclear weapons make it worse. But most of the world has banned the bomb and it’s refreshing to see what happens when diplomats, activists, and survivors are willing to do real, collective work for disarmament.”
“I’ve been hearing so much positive evidence here in New York for how the TPNW could become universal that makes me so hopeful that Scotland can get rid of these things and start to make a real contribution to international peace and real common security when we leave all these colonial and patriarchal practices behind and eliminate nuclear violence completely.”
2025 marks the 80th year since the invention of nuclear weapons and their first use, and the risks surrounding them have grown significantly. 2025 also marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). In terms of the 1325 Women, Peace & Security Agenda, disarmament lags behind progress made in the other pillars, and, despite progress at 3MSP, much more must be done to achieve gender equality in disarmament. The time for transformative change is now.
Militarism is both a harmful, repressive system that redirects resources towards weapons and war, and a philosophy and culture that weaponises security and gender relations. Nuclear weapons are perhaps the most obvious manifestation of militarism; seen as a political representation of power and masculine strength. Annie Matundu-Mbambi notes that “Weapons are consistently used as a symbol of power, authority, and their persistent availability contributes to escalating conflicts.” But we need to move away from this masculinised idea of nuclear weapons as symbols of rationality and strength, and see them for what they really are – weapons of mass horror with deadly consequences.
Nuclear weapons increase the insecurity of the most vulnerable populations of the world. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by nuclear radiation and face unique challenges after a nuclear attack. The TPNW is the first and unique treaty that has hardwired gendered perspectives into it. It specifically acknowledges the disproportionate impact on women, girls, and Indigenous people in the preamble, including harms from ionising radiation. It recognises that equal, full, and effective participation is essential for sustainable peace and security and supports and strengthens the participation of women in nuclear disarmament.
“Weapons are consistently used as a symbol of power, authority, and their persistent availability contributes to escalating conflicts.”
At 3MSP, there was widespread recognition across Parties, civil society, and scientific bodies, of the gendered impacts of nuclear weapons and radiation. This was discussed both on the plenary floor and in dedicated side events. One example of good practice, and a personal highlight, was the “Gender Mainstreaming in the TPNW: Shaping a Just and Equal Future” side event, which discussed the intergenerational impacts of nuclear testing, and the misconception that gender issues are ‘women’s issues’. They discussed female-led research that had been conducted during the intersessional period. The esteemed panel included Ambassador Rakhmetullin (the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, who assumed the Presidency of 3MSP). He recognised that a gender-inclusive approach is essential for fairness and more effective, sustainable security policies. However, we would have liked to see some more concrete, tangible actions from State Parties as to how they plan to meaningfully incorporate a gendered lens, gender-sensitive programmes, and transformative change into their disarmament work during the intersessional period. As the WILPF Secretary-General Amrita Kapur stated on Monday at CSW69, "It is not enough to add women to structures that are patriarchal, militarised, and authoritarian." We must move past tokenistic inclusion and instead work towards dismantling these systems that continue to exclude women. A feminist, anti-militarist, and radical approach to the disarmament agenda is necessary.
The progress witnessed at 3MSP is in stark contrast to the global arena. We are facing a multitude of interconnected threats. The development, possession, and use of weapons is surrounded by the culture of violent masculinities. Looking to the future, the rapid, unregulated development of AI must be challenged, else these violent masculinities and the patriarchal and colonial biases in our existing system will be embedded within these weapons and the practices and policies surrounding them. The unthinkable human cost of genocides in Gaza and Sudan, war in Ukraine, and multiple other international conflicts is yet to be fully recognised. This widespread instability, and the dominant militarised, patriarchal culture, are exacerbating international tensions and contributing to a widespread acceptance of increasing defence spending and rampant nuclear proliferation. The posturing and threatening language and actions of our (predominantly male) world leaders is leading to increased stockpiling, and the cutting of funding from vital services such as foreign aid to boost military arsenals. The new Labour Government has introduced plans to spend £13.4bn more on defence every year from 2027. Last year the UK spent £53.9bn on defence. This is an unbelievable misuse of public funds which is crippling the welfare state and endangering citizens, while the TPNW, one of the most progressive and inclusive UN treaties which could transform global security, is being ignored.
We are even seeing it closer to home, through Ian Blackford’s back pedalling away from the Scottish government’s support for scrapping Trident and supporting the TPNW. Writing for The Times newspaper, in a misguided effort to curry favour from Westminster instead of representing his country and his constituents, he said that “US disengagement from Europe leads to fundamental questions of us facing a Russian aggressor with a nuclear capability.”, offering the same reference to multilateral disarmament that marks the UK’s nuclear weapons position. Mr Blackford’s populist and naive suggestions are an unwelcome set back that are indicative of the wider backsliding that we are seeing on progressive policies throughout the international arena. His statement is in direct contradiction with the cross-party alignment in Scotland regarding the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons and recognise their gendered harms.
“Too many people have become resigned to the view that nuclear weapons are a permanent fixture in our world. We must never accept that idea. There are no technical barriers to eliminating nuclear weapons, only political ones”
Listening to the first-hand testimony of the Hibakusha was a privilege. Their stories reaffirmed the importance of our shared commitment to nuclear abolition. Yet their calls for peace continue to fall on deaf ears. The UK Government refused to send an observer to this meeting and has no plans to sign the Treaty of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. None of the nine nuclear-armed state attended 3MSP. Those who really need to hear these stories and the poignant reminder of the catastrophic humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons, are not the sympathetic people in attendance - it is the businesses, politicians, and militaries who continue to produce, proliferate, and normalise nuclear weapons. If these individuals and corporations that are propagating these systems exposed themselves to the truth about the devastating consequences of their policies, they would reconsider their actions.
In the words of Melissa Parke, Executive Director of ICAN, “Too many people have become resigned to the view that nuclear weapons are a permanent fixture in our world. We must never accept that idea. There are no technical barriers to eliminating nuclear weapons, only political ones.” The political barriers we are facing may seem insurmountable, but it is not impossible to see meaningful, impactful change during the intersessional period. Centering and supporting the voices of women and affected communities is the first step towards this. The Review Conference for the TPNW will be held at UN Headquarters in New York in November 2026. Before then, as Ambassador Rakhmetullin called for, we must "reaffirm our commitment to gender equality in disarmament, and embrace the transformative power of women as architects of peace, security, and justice”.
Áine Beattie is Secretary of Scottish Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. As a partner organisation of Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Common Weal is also a supporter of the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons.