Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title #SecurityHasNoGender. Frontex, border security, and the politics of gender-neutrality Media name/outlet LSE WPS Blog Media type Web Country/Territory United Kingdom Date 31/03/21 Description To celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex published a short video paying homage to women working at the EU’s external borders. The video, accompanied by the hashtag #SecurityHasNoGender, is reminiscent of a trailer from an action movie. Frame after frame depicts predominantly female border guards in roles such as passport checking and fingerprinting. Each frame narrates a story about ‘security’, and particularly the border security practices as engaged by Frontex, as seemingly gender-neutral. In different frames, for example, Frontex states that its activities are part of “preventing terrorism” and “protecting Europe,” which, it claims, “has no gender”.
This recent attempt by Frontex to present itself as progressive, benevolent, impartial, and inclusive comes amidst both immense growth of the agency in terms of resources and mandate, and immense criticism of its conduct, including allegations of human rights violations such as illegal push-backs, workplace harassment, fraud, and problematic relations with security industry lobbyists. Against this backdrop, it is vital to unpack and challenge the claims to gender-neutrality made by a powerful security actor, and thus the de-politicisation of both gender equality and border security. Because, of course, border security is not gender-neutral, but profoundly gendered and racialised.Persons Columba Achilleos-Sarll, Saskia Stachowitsch, Julia Sachseder