WILPF Submission to the OHCHR on the impacts of firearms on human rights
In January 2025, Reaching Critical Will worked with the WILPF Human Rights programme on a submission to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for its report on the impact of the civilian acquisition, possession and use of firearms and the underlying root causes and risk factors driving firearms-related violence on the right to participate in cultural life and the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, which was requested by resolution 5/9 (11 July 2024) of the UN Human Rights Council.
WILPF's submission contains three sections:
- Section I recalls WILPF’s feminist analysis of firearms presented as instruments of patriarchy, closely linked to militarised notions of masculinity. It also examines other structural factors undermining the respect, protection and fulfilment of the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs and cultural life with regard to the civilian acquisition and use of firearms, including the firearms industry’s influence in politics and policymaking and its marketing practices which have a major impact on cultural life, including through social media, video games and film.
- Section II addresses issues related to the participation of civil society in policy-making and regulatory spaces relevant to firearms controls, particularly at the multilateral level and based on WILPF’s advocacy experience.
- Section III draws from a 2021 WILPF submission to OHCHR and recalls some examples of findings by WILPF Sections and partners on the impacts of firearms on children’s and youth’s right to participate in public and cultural life.