I think it's quite important. As you say, it's not just about adding women to the peace process and then, as a result, having a much more promising opening towards a peaceful path. It's about recognizing that particular lived experiences stand out, and when we're talking about women human rights defenders, they have a unique experience that ought to be recognized. So when Canada and other democracies wish to advocate for peace, we ought to be championing the cause of women human rights defenders if we're interested in finding a sustainable path towards peace in various conflicts.
I very much support everything you're doing, but I worry sometimes when politicians in western countries say that they ought to get behind cause X, Y, or Z in a particular country, because that can then be spun by opponents of peace defenders in the target country by saying that these women human rights defenders, for example, are backed by the Canadians and Americans and Europeans and are advocating for outside interests. It can make their situation on the ground even worse because they're then seen as not being of the society, if you know where I'm going with this.
I think there are ways around this. What would you counsel in this situation?