Maritime security strategies and their associated action plans are instruments that guide the policies and directives of States and International Organizations in the maritime sector. This directly impacts the empowerment of women and how the discriminations they are subject to, including violence and exploitation, are addressed. However, a gendered perspective of such instruments has not yet been analysed.
This paper will look at the Spanish National Maritime Security Strategy and the European Union Maritime Security Strategy and their lack of a gender dimension as a case study. The objectives are threefold.
First, this study will examine whether additional maritime security strategies within the European Union and other regional areas also suffer from an absence of the gender dimension. Second, what are the consequences of this lack of a gender perspective in the Spanish and European sphere. Specifically, the paper will concentrate on the implications of the development of 5.1, 5.2 and 5.C United Nations SDG. Finally, this work will conclude by offering a means of incorporating a gendered perspective in future revisions of the Spanish and European maritime security strategies in order to pursue these goals.