‘Not Just Victims … But’: Toward a Critical Theory of the Victim

Abstract

In October 2010, I participated in a conference entitled ‘Role of Women in Global Security’ in Copenhagen, Denmark, organized by the US Ambassador to Denmark, Laurie Fulton, and her staff in conjunction with the Danish Foreign Ministry. The conference was outstanding in many respects, including the ability of the organizers to engage participation of high-level politicians and diplomats. US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, in an opening video address to the conference, spoke of the importance of viewing ‘women as agents and not just victims of conflict’. Gitte Lillelund Bech, then the minister of defense in Denmark, reminded the audience that women are ‘not just victims…but indispensable parts of the toolbox’. Raymond E. Mabus, US secretary of the navy, argued for the need for more female engagement teams in Afghanistan, noting that ‘women shouldn’t be characterized as victims’. Judy Cheng-Hopkins, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, noted that it had taken the UN 50 years to make the link between gender equality and peace and security. Now you can say ‘rape’ in the Security Council. But, she added, it is still ‘business as usual’, with continuing high levels of sexual violence in post-conflict settings.