Ray Acheson

Ray Acheson is currently Program Director, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, New York. As Director of WILPF's disarmament program, Reaching Critical Will, I lead the organization's work on stigmatizing war and violence, advocating for disarmament and arms control, and raising gender perspectives on militarism and weapons. I provide analysis, reporting, research, and advocacy across of range of issues, including nuclear weapons, armed drones, autonomous weapons, small arms, the...See more

Ray Acheson is currently Program Director, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, New York. As Director of WILPF's disarmament program, Reaching Critical Will, I lead the organization's work on stigmatizing war and violence, advocating for disarmament and arms control, and raising gender perspectives on militarism and weapons. I provide analysis, reporting, research, and advocacy across of range of issues, including nuclear weapons, armed drones, autonomous weapons, small arms, the arms trade, and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. I represent WILPF within the International Steering Group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. For ICAN, I worked closely with other activist partners and with governments to develop the key strategies and advocacy for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons from 2010 to 2017, when the Treaty was negotiated and adopted at the United Nations. SELECTED WORKS - TEDx Talk: Feminism and nuclear weapons, 6 December 2018 - "The gender and disarmament nexus recognized," Forum on the Arms Trade, 19 December 2018 - "A feminist critique of the atomic bomb," Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, 12 October 2018 - "To preserve our humanity, we must ban killer robots," The Nation, 1 October 2018 - "Impacts of the nuclear ban: how outlawing nuclear weapons is changing the world," Global Change, Peace and Security 30:2, 3 May 2018 - "The nuclear ban and the patriarchy: a feminist analysis of opposition to prohibiting nuclear weapons," Critical Studies on Security, 30 April 2018 - "A new generation against the bomb," The Nation, 27 April 2018 - "Resisting nuclear weapons means resisting injustice and oppression," The Nation, 2 February 2018 - "We Need A Complete Nuclear-Weapons Ban," The Nation, 18 January 2018 - "Women and the ban the bomb movement," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 15 June 2017 - "Political action to end the use of explosive weapons in populated areas," Peace in Progress, Feb 2016 Research and advocacy studies - The Humanitarian Impact of Armed Drones, October 2017: Author of chapter on "gender and armed drones;" editor of publication - Remote warfare and sexual violence in Djibouti, September 2017 - Banning nuclear weapons: principles and prohibitions for a nuclear weapon ban treaty, March 2017 - Women, weapons, and war: a gendered critique of multilateral instruments, October 2015 - Trading arms, bombing towns, September 2015 - Sex and drone strikes: gender and identity in targeting and casualty analysis, October 2014 (co-author) - A treaty banning nuclear weapons: developing a legal framework for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons, April 2014 (co-author) - Beyond arms control: challenges and choices for nuclear disarmament, March 2010 (co-author and editor) AWARDS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Champion of Change, 2018 Awarded by the UN Women Metro NY for my work as a feminist antimilitarist activist and an advocate for the nuclear weapon ban treaty. Dorothy Eldridge Peacemaker Award, 2018 Awarded by Peace Action for my work for a world without nuclear weapons. Nobel Peace Prize, 2017 (Collective) Awarded as an international steering group member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) for our work on highlighting the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and working with governments to outlaw nuclear weapons through a new international treaty. Spirit of the UN Award, 2012 Awarded by the Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns in recognition for my work as a civil society activist at the United Nations and for "steadfast leadership and knowledge on the issues of peace and disarmament." See less