1) The vast majority of people who make, sell, buy, own, use or misuse small
arms are men. Thus the damage that women suffer from the availability and
misuse of guns is disproportionate to their own role as users of guns.
2) Most of the people killed or physically injured by guns are male. (No
one knows the percentage of male vs female victims because the statistical
data are not available.) However, we do know that many thousands of women
are being shot, traumatised, intimidated, enslaved, robbed and raped at
gunpoint around the world.
3) Women are at risk of violence and intimidation with small arms in ‘peaceful’ settings,
as well as in war. The IANSA Women’s Network aims to raise awareness
within the disarmament and arms control communities, the global women’s
movement, human rights and development groups.
4) Guns that are legally owned are just as dangerous to women as those
that are illegally held. The Women’s Network challenges the traditional
dichotomies in the small arms discourse: illegal vs legal, war vs peace,
private vs public. These distinctions are irrelevant to women’s safety.
5) Women play a vital role in peace building and disarmament initiatives.
The Women’s Network supports organisations working with women and
violence prevention, or on women and guns – to mobilise, energise,
organise, and resist gun violence in their communities.
