Today’s wars are no longer fought on the discrete battle zones of the First World War. The new battlefronts include homes and communities, in wars waged over resources, political power and in the name of religion and ethnicity.1 And violence against women, once an unfortunate side-effect, is now a deliberate part of many of these armed conflicts. The United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, adopted in October 2000, has called attention to the fact that women and men are affected by war and armed conflict in different ways.2 The debate on that resolution and its follow up have also brought into sharper focus the enormous potential contribution of women as stakeholders of peace, disarmament and conflict prevention. The result has been a greater awareness of the gender dimensions of conflict and post-conflict situations throughout the international community.