Border Management and Gender
Border Management and Gender

Author(s): Angela Mackay
Subject(s): Politics, Gender Studies, Sociology, Security and defense, Military policy, Migration Studies, Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
Published by: The South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC)
Keywords: Border Management; Gender; human rights
Summary/Abstract: Borders are diverse because of their locations and contexts. Individuals crossing borders are also diverse. Women, men, boys and girls, whether seasoned air travellers, day traders, migrants, tourists, refugees or those engaged in or victims of criminal or terrorist activity, cross borders for a variety of purposes. Stereotypes and assumptions about the different roles, responsibilities, needs, capacities and agency of women and men have profound implications for border officers and thus for those crossing borders and communities adjacent to borders. Integrating a gender perspective into the work of state institutions responsible for border management can have a significant impact on the ability of border officers to recognize and respond to the different needs and vulnerabilities of women, men, boys and girls. It can also help them to learn from the experiences and insights of members of border communities. This contributes to more effective detection of crime, as well as to these officials’ compliance with human rights standards. Advancing gender equality through the work of the border security sector is part of the responsibility of governments to protect and promote the rights of all, in accordance with commitments made at national and international levels.

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