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U.S. Feminist Foreign Policy: Update and Significance

US Women’s Caucus

Dec. 13, 2023

Sung Sohn, M.Ed.

Co-founder & Executive Director, ESJF

Feminist Foreign Policy Director, USWC

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About Me

Education for Social Justice Foundation (ESJF)

Co-Founder & Executive Director

SFUSD

Resource & Classroom Teacher in SFUSD

Founded SFUSD Korean Two-Way Immersion Program (1994)

Publications

“Comfort Women” History and Issues: Teacher Resource Guide—2018, 2^nd (2019), 3^rd (2020)

“Comfort Women” History and Issues: Student Resource Guide— 2018, 2^nd (2020)

Core Curriculum Guide for the Korean Two-Way Immersion (1994)

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Education for Social

Justice Foundation

The Education for Social Justice Foundation (ESJF) provides education on past injustices relegated to the sidelines of history. With students, educators, scholars, and activists across the world, we’re committed to advancing social justice through education.

ESJF incorporates lessons learned from history to develop dignity-affirming and inquiry-based curricula.

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Two Pillars

I. Social Justice Education

II. Advocacy

International Community Outreach

Chiba Korean Elementary Middle School
Days for Girls International

UN NGO In special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

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Focus Areas include

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)
History of and issues surrounding the Asian diaspora in the U.S.
Resistance and collective activism

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Today’s Discussion

Brief review of Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) in Sweden & other countries
U.S. FP
Significance of adopting FFP

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Sweden’s FFP

1. 2014: First “explicit” FFP

foreign and security policy, development coordination, & trade and promotion
3 R’s: Rights, Representation, & Resources

2. Since 2014, 12+ governments adopted FFP

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Sweden: limitations

1. State interests take precedence over human rights as it continues arms trade agreements with Saudi Arabia, despite human rights abuses

2. Binary focus on women rather than gender, marginalizing LGBTQIA+ individuals

3. Tendency to adopt a narrow agenda that prioritizes representation and diversity over systemic change

4. Saviorism* themes

*It assumes women from foreign countries are in need of Western masculine intervention & protection

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Other countries

Similarities

o All focus on changing the existing paradigms to include or increase women and gender in their FFP & practice

o Themes of security & view FFP as integral to advancing gender equality, defending human rights, and promoting peace

Differences

Interpretations & limitations

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FFP Timeline

Credit: Defining Feminist Foreign Policy (2023)

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U.S. FP

1. U.S. has yet to adopt a feminist foreign policy

2. Military force is one of the primary global tools used in U.S. foreign policy to maintain “security”

3. Though the term “foreign” is used, U.S. foreign policy closely correlates to its domestic policy

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U.S. FP

Civil society advocacy

Leading U.S. FFP organizations
Timelines on critical efforts
Definitions

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Efforts of civil society to bring FFP to U.S.

Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative

The Coalition for a Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States

The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)

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U.S. FFP Timelines

since 2019, 1 of 2

2019: Initial draft of a U.S. feminist foreign policy

2020: Toward a feminist foreign policy in the U.S.

2021:

2021 Defining Feminist Foreign Policy
Biden administration created a new White House Gender Policy Council & National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality

2022:

January—Coalition submitted the 2021 report card of the administration’s efforts

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2023

White House:

January—Coalition submitted 2022 midterm evaluation (report card)

March—the Biden administration approved more than $3 billion federal budget

May—National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence

Coalition:

September—Coalition launched the 2023 edition of the seminal Defining Feminist Foreign Policy paper (Sept. 15)

November—the Coalition released the second term evaluation entitled Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States: An Agenda for Action (Nov. 5)

ICRW: The Feminist Foreign Policy Index: A Quantitative Evaluation of Feminist Commitments.

UN General Assembly week—foreign ministers representing the United Nations’ Feminist Foreign Policy Plus group announced the first global declaration on feminist foreign policy (Sept. 20)

U.S. FFP Timelines

since 2019, 2 of 2

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U.S. FFP Definitions

The Coalition for a Feminist Foreign Policy in the US

“The policy of a state that defines its interactions with other states, as well as movements and other non-state actors, in a manner that prioritizes peace, gender equality, and environmental integrity; enshrines, promotes, and protects the human rights of all; seeks to disrupt colonial, racist, patriarchal and male-dominated power structures; and allocates significant resources, including research, to achieve that vision. Feminist foreign policy is coherent in its approach across all of its levers of influence, anchored by the exercise of those values at home and co-created with feminist activists, groups and movements, at home and abroad.” (Thompson, Patel, Kripke, O’Donnell, 2020)

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U.S. FFP Definitions

USWC

“[It’s] a feminist approach to foreign policy that incorporates principles of equality, non-discrimination, and justice into a government’s foreign relationships. It emphasizes human rights as the central focus of international affairs and assigns states the responsibility to safeguard the human rights of all. Feminist foreign policies promotes non-violence and demilitarization. States with feminist foreign policies commit to transparency and accountability in their programs and practices.”

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FFP Findings

World

From 1990–2014, only 10% of peace agreements were signed by women
In 2019, representation of female ministers globally reached a record high, with 20.7% of all ministry positions being held by women. Only 10 countries have 50% or more positions in their cabinet held by female ministers.
An increase of 1 unit in a country’s Women’s Political Empowerment index is linked to an 11.5% decrease in the respective country’s carbon emissions (ICRW, 2023)

For more info—https://www.e4sjf.org/feminist-foreign-policy.html

Fast facts prepared by Esmé Lee-Gardner

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FFP Findings

U.S. military reliance

Highest military spending in 2022, constituting nearly 40% of total military spending worldwide
U.S. arms exports increased by 14% between 2012–2016 & 2017–2021

U.S. increased military spending contradicts the values contained in FFP definitions developed by 2 U.S. orgs

Women’s reproductive rights under threat
Widespread of anti-trans legislation

For more info—https://www.e4sjf.org/feminist-foreign-policy.html

Fast facts prepared by Esmé Lee-Gardner

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Significance and urgency of U.S. adopting FFP

To interrupt the current suppressive trends toward women’s rights and provide a societal structure for women and girls to exercise their full humanity and rights at home and abroad
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the U.S. must uphold the UN Resolution on Women, Peace and Security (WPS)

2000, UN SCR 1325 on WPS
2008, UN SCR 1820 on WPS identifies the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war

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U.S. Militarism Abroad 1

Extraterritoriality jurisdiction applies under Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs) at overseas military installations—often allow the U.S. to retain exclusive jurisdiction over its service members in many Asian countries. This means U.S. military personnel overseas face lighter punishment for an array of human rights violations, including sexual violence committed in host countries.
Additional problems—systematic environmental pollution, including disposal of toxic waste into soil and water in the host countries
ROK, Japan, Afghanistan, & Gaza

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U.S. Militarism Abroad 2

ROK

ROK hosts the U.S. military’s largest overseas installation at Camp Humphreys

1992: Kenneth Markle, U.S. serviceman, sexually assaulted and murdered 26-year-old Yun Geum-I, who was found bludgeoned to death with a bottle stuffed into her vagina and an umbrella into her anus
2002: a U.S. armored tank driven by 2 U.S. military personnel ran over 13-year-olds Hyo-Soon and Mi-Sun who died on the spot. A U.S. court-martial found the accused soldiers not guilty of negligent homicide in November 2002.

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U.S. Militarism Abroad 3

Japan has the largest number of U.S. troops outside U.S.
Hundreds of rape cases had been committed by U.S. military personnel against Okinawan women and children
Okinawa has Japan’s highest [children’s] poverty rate & the highest number of single-mother households (1945–2011)

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U.S. Militarism Abroad 4

Asia: 2015 “Comfort Women” Agreement

On Dec. 28, 2015, foreign affairs ministers from the ROK and Japan reached a “comfort women” agreement without the surviving victims’ consent—No formal apology, no reparations
“final and irreversible”
From the 1930s to the end of WWII, the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces established and operated numerous “comfort stations” for Japanese soldiers in the territories they occupied. Numerous women and girls from throughout Asia were forced into this military sexual slavery.
U.S. applauded the agreement

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From 2014 to 2023

April 24, 2014: U.S. Pres. Obama let Japan reinterpret Japan’s Constitution to allow for collective self-defense
Dec. 28, 2014: Trilateral Information-Sharing Arrangement signed between the U.S., South Korea, and Japan
Dec. 28, 2015: “Comfort Women” agreement
Nov. 23, 2016: South Korea and Japan signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement, GSOMIA
May 2017: ROK deployed the U.S. anti-ballistic missile defense system, Terminal High Altitude Defense (THAAD)
Nov. 22, 2019: GSOMIA suspended over trade disputes
March 2023: GSOMIA restored
Aug. 18, 2023: Trilateral Leaders’ Summit at Camp David
Nov. 21, 2023: North Korea launched its first spy satellite

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United Nations

CEDAW: “[The agreement] did not fully adopt a victim-centered approach”—2016
UN Committee Against Torture (CAT): “[The agreement] fails to provide redress and reparation, including compensation and the means for as full rehabilitation as possible as well as the right to truth and assurances of non-repetition. … recommends that South Korea and Japan revise the agreement to provide the surviving victims with redress and reparations.”—2017
Rashida Manjoo, UN Human Rights Council: “Adequate reparations for women cannot simply be about returning them to where they were before the individual instance of violence, but instead should strive to have a transformative potential.”—2010

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United States

Dec. 30, 2015: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (served 2013–2017), congratulated and thanked S. Korean MOFA Minister for the “successful” resolution of the “comfort women” issue. Kerry also expressed his respect for S. Korean President Park Geun-hye for her courage and vision.

July 20, 2021: U.S. State Dept Spokesperson Ned Price—“As we stated at the time in 2015, we welcome efforts such as the 2015 agreement between the two countries as an example of their commitment to forging a more productive and constructive bilateral relationship. And so even while addressing sensitive historical questions, cooperation on our common regional and international priorities must proceed.”

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U.S. Militarism Abroad 5

Afghanistan

Withdrawal of the U.S. from Afghanistan in August of 2021 left the rights and lives of Afghan women and girls at major risk of violence and becoming a casualty of conflict
WFP cut off 10 million people per month from food assistance in Afghanistan (September, 2023)— Only a fifth of Afghanistan’s hungry population will be served

With this drastic funding cut coupled with devastating earthquakes in September, poverty levels this winter will reach unprecedented levels

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U.S. Militarism Abroad 6

War on Gaza & beyond:

“The United States stands with the state of Israel.” (Oct. 7, U.S. Pres Joe Biden)
“A cease-fire would allow Hamas to repeat its attack on Israel.” (Nov. 4, U.S. Sec of State Antony Blinken)
Dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip is “one of the possibilities” (Nov. 5, Israeli Heritage Minister Eliyahu )
“Israel is determined to kill Hamas’ leaders ‘in every location’ in the world, including Qatar, Turkey, and Lebanon, even if it takes many years,” (Dec. 3, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar)
Israel killing 2 Palestinian civilians for every Hamas militant is “tremendously positive.” (Dec. 5, senior Israeli military officials)
“You put politics above the return of the kidnapped.” (Dec. 5, freed Israeli hostage)

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U.S. Militarism at Home

U.S. foreign policy has direct correlations to domestic policy
Three women are murdered every day in the U.S. by an intimate partner
U.S. women and girls’ reproductive rights is one of the main areas impacted by regressive policies attacking and threatening women’s rights

CNN map of the current abortion status in the U.S.: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/31/us/abortion-access-restrictions-bans-us/index.html

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CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/31/us/abortion-access-restrictions-bans-us/index.html

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Solutions: structural

Recommendations by FFP Index—

https://www.icrw.org/publications/feminist-foreign-policy-index-a-qualitative-evaluation-of-feminist-commitments/

For more info—https://www.e4sjf.org/feminist-foreign-policy.html

Adopt FFP

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Solutions: local

Education

Collaboration

Significance of peace and countering SGBV

Collaborate w/ civil society—reproductive justice & IANGEL’s TIP

“Comfort Women” History and Issues: Teacher & Student Resource guides, 2018

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“Keep fighting for me!”

Kim, Bok-dong (b. Korea, 1926–2019)

Nov. 7, 2018

Image credit: ESJF

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Thank you!

ESJF@E4SJF.ORG

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Join ESJF

@e4sjf