Introduction

Abstract

This special issue of Security Journal provides international perspectives on women's security. This is the first time that the journal has considered a gendered approach to conceptualising security and the implementation of this approach into practice. We believe that a gendered approach to security is long overdue. Nearly all the disciplines that nurture the security field have undergone gender revolutions in the past few decades. Criminology and victimology have been reflecting on the issue of gender for well over 30 years; similarly, discussions of the diverse needs of a gendered workforce have also affected research and practice in the field of management and law. It seems that security academics and professionals can learn from these experiences. Basically, a gendered approach to security involves a re-examination of the discipline (young as it may be) to determine if concepts, theories, research results and practice apply in the same way to men's and women's security needs and experiences.