The President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, was the guest of honour at George Mason University in Washington, where she was invited to deliver the Annual Lynch Lecture organised by the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

The theme of this year’s Lynch lecture was “Peace beyond the Patriarchy.” During the lecture, President Coleiro Preca shared thoughts and reflections about the importance which must be given to peace-building, particularly from a gender perspective.  The President spoke about her belief that issues of gender, and the challenge to safeguard peace are intimately and profoundly connected. This belief has been in fact confirmed by her many encounters with individuals and communities around the world.

“For this reason, a holistic approach to gender and peace must focus on the relationship between gender and violence,” the President stated.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said that the only pathway “for us to achieve sustainable and meaningful wellbeing, for women and girls, and for gender minorities, but also for men and boys, is by courageously, and openly, confronting the patriarchy.”

The President said that patriarchal oppressions are prevalent in the ways that our cultural narratives are formed, in the ways that they function, and in the ways that they are disseminated throughout our communities.

“Patriarchy is a truly global challenge, and will require an equally global response and solution. Patriarchy is a cultural system that we are born into, in which we all participate, and which we perpetuate, often unconsciously, to the detriment of so many human beings. Patriarchy, like all forms of oppression, has a way of normalising its abuses. It has a way of making the unacceptable injustices faced by so many women, girls, and gender minorities seem like they are part, of a socially acceptable status quo. Patriarchy, makes us believe, that there are no alternatives to its way of thinking, of acting, and of living. It would have us believe that a deep-rooted change is not possible,” the President stated.

The President encouraged the students present to heighten their awareness, throughout their studies, and in their careers, to how power circulates, often in very unjust ways, throughout society, whilst also encouraging them to consider, “what other paths we can take, as individuals, and as one human family, on our slow journey towards a more peace-focused, gender inclusive and sustainable world.”

The President said that the one-dimensional vision of masculinity, which is upheld by the patriarchy must be challenged so as to “open our minds to the limitless potential of people of all genders working together,” adding that damaging and distorting attitudes cannot continue to be explicitly or implicitly promoted.

The President said that perspectives that privilege power, coercion and control must be replaced with stronger attributes such as compassion, respectful relationship building, and the ability to nurture humanity. For this vision to be achieved, all forms of dualistic and narrowly gendered thinking must be disrupted.

President Coleiro Preca said that her belief is that the young people of the world must take a more central role, to achieve “this much needed transformation,” and called for them to be “the activists of today, in order to become the effective leaders of tomorrow.”

“The world needs a transformation that promotes solidarity, through an approach which encourages collective cross-cutting activism,” the President said.

The President stated that our global consciousness must be transformed away from destructive and coercive attitudes, towards a perspective that upholds the peaceful and inclusive participation of all people, whoever they may be, and wherever they may come from.

“Inclusive participation is possible when we are not complacent, when we take real action, and when we challenge the far-reaching effects of patriarchal oppression, in our societies.

The President also spoke about the gender pay gap, which exists across our nations, and which continues to restrict women’s access to equitable and equal opportunities for employment.