All-Woman Peacekeeping Unit in Liberia

From Reuters:

Dozens of helmeted Indian women in blue camouflage uniform, holding automatic rifles, rubber-tipped bamboo sticks or fibreglass riot shields, position themselves in a circle, training in anti-riot operations. ...

They are part of the first all-woman police unit being sent on a United Nations' peacekeeping mission -- to the west African nation of Liberia, painstakingly recovering from 14 years of an off-on civil war.

Although women officers have been part of U.N. police units, this is the first time a standalone, all-woman force is being sent to a country by the global body.

"We are professionals and up to the task," said [unit commander Seema Dhundia, a] mother of two, who has carried out counter-insurgency operations against separatist guerrillas and Islamist militants in India. ...

The United Nations has hailed India's move to send the [all-woman police] unit as "unprecedented" and hopes it will inspire other nations to send more female units to police the world's restive zones.

"This decision is extremely important because as we look at our deployment of women in U.N. police components ... we still retain an unacceptably small number of three or four percent," U.N. police adviser Mark Kroeker said.

In October 2000, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed resolution 1325, which affirms "the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building" and stresses "the importance of [women's] equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution."

There are many reasons for UNSC resolution 1325 -- abstract ideals like gender equality and participatory democracy, and real-world findings that women are more conscientious and effective when distributing aid or promoting reconciliation. Plus, women peacekeepers will sure as heck be less likely to rape or otherwise abuse the women and girls they're supposed to be protecting.