Themes of the Pan-Arctic Report
The 10 lead authors worked with approximately 80 contributors from across the Arctic – including academics, researchers, youth, Indigenous representatives, and other experts and stakeholders—to pull together diverse materials and perspectives. Following are summaries of each chapter.
Law and Governance
Law and Governance examines formal obligations regarding gender equality in the public governance of the Arctic region, as expressed in political and legal documents, including special consideration of Indigenous Peoples. The objective is to explore the political and legal commitments for which public governing bodies are accountable, how these bodies express their ambitions regarding gender equality in the Arctic, and how the commitments are fulfilled. What emerges from the analysis is that governance in the Arctic does not prioritise gender equality and, more generally, that the goal of gender equality is not met within the region.
Security
Security examines the impacts of inequalities in the Arctic through a security lens and identifies trends in insecurity. Rather than arguing for Arctic exceptionalism, the chapter draws from global insights about insecurity that are relevant to the Arctic and identifies some challenges and insecurities within the Arctic region itself. The chapter addresses gendered and human insecurities associated with climate change and provides brief examples of some of the gender/human insecurities experienced across the Arctic today. The chapter concludes that gender security perspectives are crucial to improving Arctic societal well-being and stability and emphasises the need for a broader, research-based understanding of security. The chapter further highlights the tendency of inequalities and centre–periphery imbalances to lead to insecurities, because most Arctic regions are neglected or bypassed regarding services, support, and inclusion in broader political goals.
Gender and Environment
Gender and Environment provides an overview of the gendered dimensions of issues connected to the broadly understood environment of the Arctic region, including climate, oceans, land, biodiversity, natural resources, and waste and pollution. The chapter pays attention to variations in how different genders relate to their environment, how they experience changes in that environment, and the gendered impacts of development and environmental change in the region. The chapter concludes that gender equality is integral for effective, efficient, and equitable environmental protection. Further, all regions of the Arctic exhibit only sporadic engagement with gender and gender analysis, and there is a dearth of sex- and gender-disaggregated data across the Circumpolar North. Finally, there is a lack of systematic engagement with gender-based analysis and gendered perspectives within the Arctic Council and across its Working Groups.
Migration and Mobility
Migration and Mobility discusses how migration and mobility in the Arctic are constructed through gender and why an understanding of migration and mobility requires a gendered approach. The chapter combines statistics with a qualitative context-based approach to understand space as gendered and the contextual nature of migration and mobility. The chapter emphasises how studies on migration and gender need to employ an intersectional research approach and do better at involving other social categories, most notably Indigenous perspectives and LGBTQIA2S+.
Indigeneity, Gender, Violence, and Reconciliation
Indigeneity, Gender, Violence, and Reconciliation seeks to take a step towards mapping the complex relations amongst violence; gender; the social, economic, political, and legal systems; human health and well-being; culture; and identities. The chapter addresses problems related to the imposition of Western binary perspectives on gender. Violence against Indigeneity, the consequent persistent inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, and the importance of truth and reconciliation processes are discussed. The connection between socioeconomic inequalities and violent crimes is explored. It emphasises how gendered violence continues to be a serious issue across the Arctic and how Indigenous women and girls face disproportionate violent victimisation in the context of ongoing settler colonial relations.
Empowerment and Fate Control
Empowerment and Fate Control seeks to identify concrete strategies for political, economic, and civic gender empowerment in order to facilitate sustainable policy making for the Arctic. Gender empowerment is defined as the capacity of all genders to exercise power in decision making and the process by which they, individually and collectively, can help themselves and others maximise the quality of their lives. The term is closely linked to fate control, which is defined as the ability to guide one's own destiny and refers to a process that creates power in individuals over their own lives, society, and their communities. The authors suggest moving gender empowerment and fate control from the periphery to the centre of public discourse and decision making, making sure to incorporate Indigenous Peoples' traditions and perspectives on gender and gender equality in the theoretical and practical framework of gender knowledge building and policy.