Feminist Foreign Policy Principles in Czechia

Feminism faces prejudice in the Czech Republic. However, feminist foreign policy means more than just gender equality: principles like participation or accountability are already partly a reality here. How to move forward was explored through focus groups by researchers from the Institute of International Relations, Ondřej Horký-Hlucháň and Míla O’Sullivan, in collaboration with the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague.

This participatory SWOT analysis examines how practitioners perceive the application of feminist foreign policy’s five principles – Intersectionality, Empathetic Reflexivity, Meaningful Participation, Accountability and Active Peace Commitment – in the Czech context. Feminist foreign policy extends beyond focusing on women and girls and promoting gender equality. Still, the feminist label can be off-putting to many potential supporters; a better approach might be to work with its principles through individual topics such as meaningful participation, rights at large, or social and climate justice.

A viable strategy could be to focus on a single, tangible issue – such as reproductive rights – in order to gradually shift public discourse toward a feminist approach in both domestic and foreign policy. The informal feminist foreign policy network should be sustained, with greater efforts to engage men in its activities.