On the Frontlines of Peace and the Planet: Protecting Women Environmental Peacebuilders under Threat

Tamara Bah, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security (United States)

Women environmental peacebuilders—particularly Indigenous leaders and frontline community organizers—play a critical role in preventing conflict, sustaining livelihoods, and protecting ecosystems in fragile and resource-contested settings. Yet they face escalating and gendered threats, including criminalization, intimidation, sexualized violence, and extrajudicial attacks as they challenge powerful political and economic interests. This presentation or workshop examines how gendered power dynamics shape who is protected, who is silenced, and whose environmental stewardship is recognized or erased within national legal systems and global environmental governance. It analyzes key accountability gaps, including weak protection frameworks, failures in international monitoring, and inadequate corporate due diligence in extractive and infrastructure projects. Drawing on research, case studies, and emerging feminist and community-led protection models, the session highlights practical pathways to strengthen rights-based safeguards, improve defender safety, and integrate women’s leadership and protection into environmental peacebuilding, climate action, and natural resource governance processes.