Silent Waves: Feminist Reflections On Maritime Security And The Women, Peace & Security (WPS) Agenda

Sukhvinder Kaur Multani

When we think about the oceans, we usually imagine things we’ve grown up seeing —
navy ships moving across the water, borders drawn on maps, and countries protecting
their territory at sea. For a long time, this is what most people have understood
“maritime security” to mean strong, masculine focused on protection, control, and
strategic power.
But if we pause for a moment and look beyond the noise of engines and the heavy talk
of geopolitics, we can sense something quieter, softer and more genuine.
We hear the silent waves.
These waves carry stories of women who have guarded coastlines long before the term
“security” even entered policy discourses and documents. Women who carry the weight
of climate change, rising seas, vanishing fish stock, and broken livelihoods. Women
whose hands mend nets, rebuild homes after cyclones, preserve mangroves, and hold
communities together when disasters strike.
Yet they remain largely invisible in the grand narrative of maritime power.
Silent Waves begins from this simple truth:

if we want real peace at sea, we need to listen to the people who live closest to
the water, especially women.

Beyond Warships: A Feminist Question

Feminist thinkers like Cynthia Enloe, J. Ann Tickner, and Carol Cohn have for years
asked a question that seems obvious the moment we hear it:
Whose security are we talking about?
Traditional ideas of maritime security have always been told through a masculine lens
encompassing protection of borders, choke points, shipping lanes, naval readiness.
These are important but they are not the whole story.
Enloe reminds us that the spaces we ignore such as kitchens, markets, coastlines,
fishing villages etc are just as political. Tickner argues that security must include care,
justice, and dignity, not just defense. And Cohn exposes how military language often
strips away human realities.

When applied to oceans, this feminist perspective completely changes the picture.
Maritime security becomes not just about states, but about people.
Not just about power, but about well-being.
Not just about competition, but about coexistence.

The Hidden Strength of Women by the Sea

Across South and Southeast Asia, women’s lives have intertwined with the sea in ways
policymakers have rarely seen.
In India, fisherwomen wakeup before sunrise, repair nets, clean fish, manage auctions,
and run households when the men are out at sea. They are often the first to respond
after cyclones in terms of organizing food, rebuilding homes, and managing relief.
In Sri Lanka, women restore mangroves, knowing these roots protect their villages
better than any sea wall.
In Indonesia, women lead seaweed farming cooperatives that sustain thousands of
families while keeping coastal ecosystems alive.
These stories show what research has long confirmed that women are central to the
blue economy, to environmental care, and to community resilience. Their work is
steady, often unnoticed , and absolutely essential.
But policies? Strategies? Security frameworks?
They hardly ever recognize women’s contributions.

Climate Change: A Threat Felt First by Women

Rising seas, warmer oceans, cyclones, salinity intrusion aren’t abstract issues for
coastal women. They are lived realities.
A flooded home means a mother sleeps standing up to keep her children dry.
A failed fish catch means an elderly woman skips a meal so her family can eat.
A storm warning means women become caregivers, coordinators, protectors often
without recognition or any support.
Climate change makes the oceans more unpredictable, but it also makes women’s lives
more vulnerable. And yet, their knowledge of tides, seasons, and coastal ecology is
priceless. It is wisdom built over generations but often ignored.

Where is Gender in Maritime Policy?

Even with all our international laws and frameworks, gender still struggles to find a place
in maritime policy.
We have global frameworks like:
– UNCLOS (for governing oceans)
– SDG 14 (for protecting marine life)
– UNSCR 1325 (Women, Peace & Security)

But even then, gender is still not truly part of mainstream maritime governance.
The WPS agenda insists that women must be involved in peacebuilding, disaster
response, and environmental management. When we apply this to the ocean, the
message becomes even clearer:
Women are not beneficiaries but are agents.
Not victims but Leaders.
Not supporting characters but Key actors in ocean diplomacy.
Yet most maritime strategies still imagine the ocean as a space of rivalry which is visible
in India vs China, US vs Asia, navy vs navy. What would happen if we focused on
cooperation instead?
What if peace at sea began with communities, not warships?

Why Feminist Security Matters for Oceans

Feminist Security Studies teaches us to look beyond the obvious:
– to see care as a form of defense
– to see community networks as security systems
– to see ecological protection as conflict prevention
– to see women’s leadership as essential for peace

This perspective doesn’t weaken maritime security but strengthens it by adding depth,
meaning, and sustainability.
Oceans are not battlegrounds.
They are living systems shared by all of humanity.
Security must honour that.

The Call of Silent Waves

Silent Waves ends with a simple but powerful idea which is;
peace at sea is built on inclusion, cooperation, and care.
When women help shape climate policies, lead fisheries, negotiate peace or rebuild
after storms, the whole idea of maritime security begins to look different.
It becomes less about dominance and more about balance.
Less about control and more about collaboration.
Less about fear and more about shared survival.
The ocean’s future depends on all of us, but especially on the women who have
protected it quietly, tirelessly and invisibly.
It’s time we finally see them.
And more importantly include them and bring them into the spaces where decisions are
made.

About the author

Sukhvinder Multani is an educator, researcher and academic leader with over 27 years
of experience in teaching, research and publications. She currently serves as Deputy
Dean (Research & Publications) at Ajeenkya DY Patil University, Pune. Her work spans
Indian politics, international relations, maritime security, gender studies, foreign policy,
and geopolitics, especially within the Indo-Pacific region.
She has edited and published 19 books, many of which have gained national and
international repute. Over the years, she has taught across universities and business
schools and presented her research at various national and global forums on the Indian
Ocean, climate change, and non-traditional security threats.
As a doctoral scholar, she continues to explore the intersections of governance, security
and global dynamics. Her writing is shaped by her deep interest in how politics, security
and society intersect and how global issues unfold in everyday life.