The CGD Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: Linking Women and Foreign Policy - Valerie Hudson
Date: July 27, 2015
Host: Rajesh Merchandani (Center for Global Development)
Guest: Dr. Valerie Hudson, Professor and George H.W. Bush Chair, Texas A&M University

Overview

This episode features Dr. Valerie Hudson, a leading researcher and Professor at Texas A&M University, who discusses her work on the WomanStats project—a monumental, open-access database tracking over 360 variables across 175 nations about the status of women worldwide. The conversation explores how women’s status is fundamentally linked to national security, economic development, and peace, and why foreign policy and international development must account for gender.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Women's Status is Critical to National Fate

• Historical Blind Spots in Security Studies
  • Traditionally, foreign policy and security fields excluded women’s issues.
  • Quote [01:10]:

    "Foreign policy, security and women didn’t seem to even inhabit the same planet. But I think that’s broken down over the years."
    — Valerie Hudson

• Impact on Societal Outcomes
  • Ignoring women’s roles leads to gaps in policies around food security, health, and prosperity.
  • Including women’s status provides insight into national-level variables and outcomes.

2. Gender Lens in Global Security Operations

• United Nations Peacekeepers Example
  • "Blue hats"—over 95% male—enter regions to maintain security, often undermining local women’s safety.
  • Scandals involving peacekeepers preying on women and children highlight risks of a male-dominated force.
  • Quote [02:28]:

    "Even things that we think about as very unproblematic, such as UN peacekeepers, become much more problematic when we add a gender lens."
    — Valerie Hudson

• Potential Solutions
  • Introducing more female peacekeepers and demanding better accountability for abuses.

3. Purpose and Scope of the WomanStats Database

• Genesis and Rationale
  • The need for large-scale, rigorous data to move policy arguments about women from anecdote to accepted fact.
  • Combines quantitative and qualitative data—including family law, social practices, and enforcement.
  • Quote [03:57]:

    "If you wish to have some real impact, you’re going to have to be prepared to do rigorous statistical analysis of large n samples of nations... that will allow what you’re saying to be heard."
    — Valerie Hudson

4. What WomanStats Measures

• Beyond the Basics
  • Traditional data (labor force, school enrollment, maternal mortality, legislative representation) is included.
  • Unique focus: Family law, inheritance rights, age and choice in marriage, customs, and practice versus law.
• Value of Qualitative Data
  • Field observations, practices, and gaps between law and enforcement are systematically tracked.
  • Quote [05:37]:

    "That’s where we see the real value added of a database like WomanStats... we also embrace the qualitative. So those customs, those practices, whether law is enforced or not—all of that information can be found in our database."
    — Valerie Hudson

5. Global Patterns: Law vs. Practice

• Color-Coded Map Findings
  • Best performers: Scandinavia—legal standards and practice closely matched.
  • US: Lags in specific areas like custody law and family law practice.
  • Latin America: Progressive legal reforms; gaps remain due to informal marriages not being registered.
  • Quote [08:58]:

    "[In Latin America] marriages are not made official, were not registered... the types of marital rights that women may normally possess under the law may be absent."
    — Valerie Hudson

6. "Bare Branches" and Security

• Link Between Gender Demographics and Conflict
  • Societies with excess unmarried men, caused by practices such as sex-selective abortion and infanticide, face higher risks of instability.
  • Quote [11:14]:

    "The best predictor of level of peacefulness of a given nation was the level of physical security of women. It was actually a better predictor than how democratic the nation was."
    — Valerie Hudson

7. The Power and Politics of Data Collection

• Need for Disaggregation and Transparency
  • MDGs failed to capture gender disparities; SDGs emphasize detailed, disaggregated data.
  • Obstacles: lack of national capacity, lack of will, and social norms not recognizing certain abuses (e.g., marital rape).
  • Quote [13:07]:

    "There are still over 80 countries in the world that do not consider marital rape to be a crime. So why would you collect statistics on something you don't consider to be a crime?"
    — Valerie Hudson

8. Implications for Policymakers

• Data driven visibility is crucial; without data, problems remain invisible and unaddressed.
  • Quote [14:33]:

    "The purpose of data is to make these linkages visible so that policymakers say, obviously, we need to do something about this. But you can’t do unless you see."
    — Valerie Hudson

9. Open Access and Advocacy

• Commitment to Accessibility
  • The database is free to access for anyone—students, journalists, researchers, and policymakers.
  • Quote [15:17]:

    "I want to lower the barriers... because that’s how change is going to happen if more and more people begin researching this. So the access to our data is absolutely free on our website."
    — Valerie Hudson

10. Change Over Time: Are Things Improving?

• Progress and Persistent Challenges

  • Improvements: Significant reductions in maternal mortality and educational gender gaps.
  • Persistent Problems: Violence against women, limitations to women’s voice, and restrictive customs remain stubbornly unchanged.
  • Education Alone is Not Enough:
    • "A woman who's a college graduate can be beaten up by her husband just as well as someone who's a high school dropout."
    • Quote [16:29]:

      "The fact that violence has not decreased against women even as they have attained parity in education is kind of a stunning fact that our world needs to look squarely at."
      — Valerie Hudson

• Educating Men and Changing Culture

  • True change requires shifting male attitudes and getting religious/cultural leaders to actively oppose violence.
  • Quote [18:03]:

    "It’s got to be a change of mind. It’s got to be a change of heart. And so we need those who are leaders in that area to ask men to step up to the plate."
    — Valerie Hudson

• On Hope and Realism

  • While total eradication of violence and discrimination is unlikely, growing consensus and leadership—especially from religious figures—could lead to meaningful shifts.
  • Quote [19:22]:

    "Will we ever see an eradication of violence against women? Probably not. Can we see a growing consensus that eradication... is important? I could. I’m hopeful in that regard."
    — Valerie Hudson

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Opening Challenge to the Field [01:10]:
  • "Foreign policy, security and women didn’t seem to even inhabit the same planet."
• Revelation on Security Prediction [11:14]:
  • "...the best predictor of level of peacefulness of a given nation was the level of physical security of women."
• On Uncomfortable Realities [16:29]:
  • "A woman who’s a college graduate can be beaten up by her husband just as well as someone who’s a high school dropout. The fact that violence has not decreased against women even as they have attained parity in education is kind of a stunning fact..."
• Data for Visibility [14:33]:
  • "But you can’t do unless you see."
• On Open Access [15:17]:
  • "So the access to our data is absolutely free on our website."

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:10] – Women’s status and national security connection
• [02:09] – UN peacekeepers, gender lens, and conflict zones
• [03:57] – Why rigorous data is needed for policy impact
• [05:37] – What WomanStats measures and why qualitative data matters
• [07:40] – Law vs. practice: national comparisons
• [10:11] – "Bare Branches": Gender imbalance and conflict risk
• [11:14] – Security predictors: Women’s treatment vs. democracy
• [13:07] – Data deficits and politics of statistics
• [15:17] – Commitment to open access
• [16:29] – Progress in some areas, stagnation in violence
• [18:03] – Changing attitudes among men and leadership’s role
• [19:22] – Hope and realism on gender equality’s future

Final Message

Dr. Hudson underscores that no nation’s fate can be separated from how it treats its women. Open data and rigorous analysis like that from WomanStats make essential linkages visible, giving policymakers and advocates the information needed for meaningful action. Full resources and data are accessible at womanstats.org.