Countless feminist studies, supported by field research, have highlighted the extent of gender harm experienced by women during conflicts as a quasi-universal phenomenon. The gendered nature of conflicts is often compounded by peace processes that typically marginalise women and their concerns, leading to the entrenchment of gender discrimination in post-conflict reconstruction. Peace agreements are typically negotiated between political and military elites with the help of mediators and intervention from other international and regional actors. The participation of civil society representatives in formal peace negotiations tends to be minimal at best. Women, whether as political leaders, mediators, diplomats or representatives of civil society, are generally under-represented and mostly absent from these military focused and highly masculinised peace talks. Often, within these narrow yet internationalised ‘peace’ circles ‘complimentary patriarchies’ operating between national, regional and international actors are compounded to disserve women. The resulting peace agreements are invariably written in gender neutral language that marginalises and excludes women and their needs from almost every aspect of the transition. Within the feminist literature, political transitions whether those that follow from violent conflicts, popular uprisings or repressive regimes, are often described as ‘windows of opportunities’ that have the potential to transform the status of women and gender relations within the societies in which they have occurred. In October 2000 the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) was hailed as a historic event and a turning point for women in conflicts, peacemaking, peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction. Resolution 1325 formally required political transitions to be inclusive, gender sensitive and transformative for women. In particular, resolution 1325 called for the incorporation of a gender perspective in all peace efforts including in peacemaking, peacebuilding, peacekeeping and humanitarian relief operations and for the participation of women in all peace activities including in the negotiations of peace agreements and in future governance and transitional institutions.