One of the global challenges in the contemporary world is that of the status of women
taking the centre stage of politics of development. With the UN Charter as a symbol of
equality, peace and development, there have been a number of significant international
legal instruments on women's rights, freedoms and women's development. Such
international exercises brought some positive changes in each and every country though
differing in levels of their implementation. The UN brought commitments for the states
to adopt gender perspective so as to bring in more equality between women and men.
On the other hand, few areas of violation of human rights of women were identified by
the international community namely, religion and society, abuse within the family,
physical violence against women, abuse of socio economic rights, political participation,
prosecution and crimes against women etc. This scenario calls for the understanding of
gender and its relevance in the area of international relations in general.
Understanding gender and gender relations
The concept of gender is a cross cutting socio cultural variable and needs to be
understood as such. It is also an extended variable in the sense that gender can also be
appropriate to all cross cutting variables such as race, caste, class, age, ethnic group etc.
It is a socio-cultural framework in which gender organizations are established that decide
what is anticipated, permitted and valued in a woman or man, boy or girl in a specific
situation. Gender stereotyping roles are learned through socialization processes: they are
not permanent but are changeable and vary from society to society. Gender arrangements
are institutionalized through education systems, political and economic systems,
legislations, culture and traditions, religion and superstition. In making use of gender
approach, the centre of attention is not on individual woman and man but on the system
which establishes gender roles and responsibilities, access to and control over resources
and decision making which affects them.1 It is also worth mentioning that the gender
concept is not restricted to women only. Gender expression includes women as well as
men and their interrelationship.
