Chairs
Surya Deva surya.deva@mq.edu.au

All human rights are threatened in times of wars and conflicts. However, wars and conflicts often exacerbate existing patriarchal norms against girls and women. Consequently, girls and women experience gender-based violence differently as well as disproportionately during wars and conflicts. The use of sexual violence as a tactic of war is a case in point. Moreover, violence is not experienced by all women in an identical way; intersectional variables have a bearing on how women’s human rights come under attack, for example, during or due to forced displacements. At the same time, girls and women should not be seen and analysed merely as victims of wars and conflicts. They have a critical role to play in the prevention and resolution of conflicts.

How are women’s human rights – including access to education and health care, including sexual and reproductive health services – impacted differently and disproportionately during wars and conflicts? What role could constitutions play in safeguarding women’s rights in wars and conflicts? How to ensure that post- conflict transitions are gender-responsive? How could constitutions ensure that women are able to participate in preventing conflicts as well as in peacebuilding and transitional justice processes? More than 30 years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, this workshop at the 2026 IACL World Congress will grapple with some of these questions. The co-chairs welcome paper proposals on any issues related to the workshop theme.