UNU-ONY is holding a Book Launch to discuss issues raised in “Sexed Pistols: The Gendered Impacts of Small Arms and Light Weapons”. Every day, small arms and light weapons (SALW) kill and maim, wound and threaten millions of adults and children, whether combatants and civilians in war zones or gangs and communities in degraded “peacetime” environments that are characterized by large-scale violence. The impacts of these weapons can be vastly different for women and men, girls and boys, a careful consideration of gender and age is rare in the formulation of small arms policy, of planning small arms collection or control, or even in small arms research. Contributors to this book draw on experience and research from around the world on the nexus of gender, age, violence and small arms in developing and developed countries. Their findings feed into a number of recommendations for future policy formulation, programme implementation and research designed to further illuminate and counteract the firing of the “sexed pistol”.

Participants will benefit from speaker’s sharing their experiences and research related to themes in the book. The speakers will include: Albrecht Schnabel, a Senior Fellow, Research Division of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces; Betty A. Reardon, the Director, Peace Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University; and Ms. Sam Cook, the PeaceWomen Project Director, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. There will be a Question and Answer Session moderated by UNU’s Dr. Jean-Marc Coicaud.

Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009

Time: 1:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Venue: Conference Room 7, UN Headquarters

Note: For those who require a visitors pass, please come to the UN Information Desk upon arrival after passing through the security tent at the UN Secretariat. 

Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the event begins.