Dr Becky Alexis-Martin is an Associate Professor in Peace and International Development at the University of Bradford. Dr Becky Alexis-Martin is a pacifist academic. Her work explores nuclear warfare, social justice, humanitarian and environmental issues, and human rights. She has authored more than sixty-five news articles, book chapters, and peer-reviewed articles. Her first book, “Disarming Doomsday: The Human Impact of Nuclear Weapons Since Hiroshima”, critically considers the social, cultural, and spatial inequalities and harms perpetuated by nuclear warfare and was the recipient of the 2020 L.H.M. Ling Outstanding First Book Prize.
Kiritimati is an inhabited island that is part of the Republic of Kiribati in the central Pacific. From 1957 to 1962 this coral atoll was colonised, militarised, and used as a base for UK and US nuclear weapons testing.
The Kiritimati community is still not facilitated to engage with TPNW policy implementation. Through no fault of their own, representative members of this community remain conspicuous by their absence at UN TPNW events and debates. This presents a deep epistemic injustice, an injustice of knowledge, whereby the Kiritimati people are not being heard. This also means that their specific needs are being assumed, and therefore not directly addressed, despite policy progress in the context of Article 6 and 7. It is essential that engagement and outreach strategies are rapidly addressed to improve the likelihood of successful support and receipt of appropriate reparations.