In the UK, as in many other countries around the world, armed domestic violence is a hidden killer. The Disarm Domestic Violence campaign continues to highlight cases and share recommendations to help make women safer in their homes. Although British newspapers focus on street crime with guns, the majority of women murdered with guns in the country are killed in domestic violence incidents, usually with a gun that was owned legally.

These African Union agreements are important because they represent consensus from the majority of countries of the African continent, and will form part of discussions and negotiations at forthcoming events on the UN Programme of Action on small arms, and the Arms Trade Treaty.

IANSA women lobbied hard and we can now celebrate two successes that support our work through the inclusion of the following text in each document:

African Union Strategy on the Control of Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons

3.3 Gender dimension: To promote and enhance the participation of all gender groupings especially women in the design and implementation of initiatives to fight proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons at all levels.

Draft African Union Common Position on an Arms Trade Treaty

Parameters and Criteria

34. Conventional arms transfers shall not be authorized if they violate the objectives of an Arms Trade Treaty, as expressed in Article 25of this common position, and will be assessed using the following parameters:

b) risk for the transfer to adversely impact on national, regional and international stability, peace and security and to provoke or fuel armed and sexual violence against women and children, and armed conflict;

35. In applying these criteria, the following shall be considered:

xi. whether the transfer would exacerbate gender based violence in violation of UN resolutions 1325, 1820, 1889.