The LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security has announced it will be spearheading a new coalition of research institutions focused on tackling worldwide gender-based injustice. The Hub, One of twelve new research bodies funded by the UK Government’s Global Challenges Research Fund, will receive £15.2 million of funding over the next five years with the goal of developing an evidence-base around gender, justice and inclusive security in conflict-affected societies.
By working with 44 partners across 17 countries, the LSE-led body will be responsible for expanding research capacity and interdisciplinary research. Alongside international partners, the Hub seeks to improve the long-term consequences of gender-based violence within conflict with a principle geographic focus on the eight core sites of Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Uganda.
Professor Christine Chinkin, founder of Centre in 2015, serves as Principal Investigator for the Gender, Justice and Security Hub. Commenting on the announcement, Professor Chinkin said, “The Hub provides an amazing opportunity to work with our partners overseas to explore, through research and exchanges, the potential of the Women, Peace and Security agenda to help deliver on the global challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals.”
This move cements the world-leading calibre of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security, who have recently launched two multidisciplinary projects entitled “Gendered Peace” and “Feminist International Law of Peace and Security”. Both projects use gendered analysis and feminist methodologies to develop concepts outlined in the UN’s Women, Peace and Security Agenda. However, many have found the huge cash injection to be distasteful at a time when the school is cutting back on its consent training.
Katie Tesseyman, Women’s Officer for the LSE Students Union said “The UKRI GCRF Gender, Justice and Security Hub is an extremely important project and the LSE’s leading role in the project is something the university should be proud of. It would be great to see the LSE putting as much thought and action into the safety of students on campus by addressing the gendered issue of sexual harassment and violence. The LSE’s refusal to provide face to face consent training for more than a handful of students is a failure on their part to address issues on their own campus that the university claims to take seriously.”
