Smuggled in Plain Sight: The Gendered Blind Spot in Maritime Small Arms Trafficking

Dr Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood has authored a blog post highlighting the gendered dimensions of maritime arms trafficking - Smuggled in Plain Sight: The Gendered Blind Spot in Maritime Small Arms Trafficking by Small Arms Survey, Aug, 2026.

Following Ife’s post, she was invited to speak at the Arms Trade Treaty side event on Thursday 27 August. Organised by the Small Arms Survey and co-hosted by the Philippines, the session explored how integrating maritime security dimensions can strengthen implementation of Article 9 (transit and trans-shipment) and Article 11 (diversion) of the Arms Trade Treaty. A broad coalition of European States sponsored the working paper underpinning the discussion: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
 
Ife's brief focused on the importance of breaking down policy silos and embedding gendered considerations into discussions on maritime arms trafficking, dimensions that are frequently overlooked but are important to understanding trafficking and strengthening responses.