When Peace Excludes: Gendered Barriers in Demobilization Processes

May 4, 2026

Vicka Heidt & Jessica Anania

Introduction & Overview

Across conflict settings, women’s participation in armed groups is both substantial and increasing. In Ukraine, women now comprise roughly one-fifth of troops, while in Myanmar, women are active in frontline and leadership roles within pro-democracy and resistance groups. Women’s representation in armed forces rose by 27 percent from 2016 to 2022, while women were present in roughly 63 percent of rebel organizations between 1946 and 2015. Yet, Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) processes continue to neglect women—reflecting outdated assumptions about who participates in conflict and who should qualify for reintegration support.

Implementation gaps remain pronounced despite longstanding commitments under the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda—including explicit guidance under United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and subsequent frameworks. As a result, DDR efforts repeatedly fail to reflect the modern composition of armed forces and groups. Even where gender provisions exist, they are often not operationalized due to inadequate funding, staffing, or program design. Recent data underscores these challenges. The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security’s (GIWPS) 2025 survey of nearly 3,000 women peacebuilders strikingly found that over half of respondents rated DDR programs as ineffective or neither effective nor ineffective.6 These findings point to a persistent disconnect between policy commitments and operational realities.

For practitioners, this gap has direct implications. When women are excluded from eligibility criteria, outreach mechanisms, or reintegration support, DDR programs risk incomplete disarmament, weakened reintegration, and reduced legitimacy within affected communities. These outcomes can ultimately undermine broader stabilization efforts. This report interrogates why gender-responsive DDR is essential for durable security and offers lessons from past practice by identifying three barriers that have prevented DDR from including women effectively: limited awareness of women’s issues, roles, and needs; a lack of socioeconomic transformation; and restrictive gender norms and stigma.