Our colleagues at the WILPF’s Human Rights programme, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and Reaching Critical Will have submitted a shadow report to the Committee of the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on Germany’s extraterritorial obligations under CEDAW and the Arms Trade Treaty related to arms transfers and their impacts on women’s rights and safety. The report examines Germany’s arms transfers to India, Iraq, Mexico, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia and calls for stronger regulations over German arms exports.

In the introduction, the report states that “arms transfers can have serious consequences for the rights and safety of women in the countries that receive them as well as in places where they are not meant to go. The proliferation of small arms and light weapons, both in wartime and non-conflict situations with significant political tensions and systemic gendered discrimination, may disproportionately affect women. Furthermore, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas may have particular implications for women who may be affected by the destruction of infrastructure or the burden of caring for the wounded, particularly in a context of inequality…

The CEDAW Committee and the Human Rights Council are among the human rights bodies that have expressed concerns about the specific negative consequences of arms transfers on the rights of women and girls.”

The report was published in January 2017 by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights. To download or read the full report click here.