GENDER EQUALITY AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM: A RESEARCH AGENDA FOR LIBYA (original) (raw)
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Review of Public Affairs of Sciences Po, 2018
Violent extremism is a multifaceted issue that requires multi-disciplinary solutions not limited to the field of international relations. In my research, I examine how gender performativity relates to violent extremism, using empirical data provided by a study on the major factors leading to youth radicalization in Tunisia . I argue that the identity of young radicalized men are shaped by gender constructs and practices, inspired by Maleeha Aslam’s study exploring militant-jihadist Islamism in Pakistan . Interviews and surveys are examined through Judith Butler’s gender performativity and Raewyn Connell’s notion of multiple masculinities . The context of British and French colonialism in the Muslim world is used to “historicize” Muslim masculinities. According to this argument, post-colonial Muslim men share a collective sentiment of being marginalized in their own countries and in the global society. The marginalization is not limited to economic deprivation but may also include social isolation at the edge of politics, race and religion. I consider that the rise of radical Salafist movements in the aftermath of the Arab Spring is related to the precarious economic situation experienced by the majority of young people, paired with the deception of the democratic transition in interplay with gender relations. Young women suffer from the same socio-economic context as their male counterparts, yet the majority of radicalized youth are men. This is one example of why gender is crucial to understand and create effective prevention and de-radicalization measures. When women influence decisions about war and peace and take the lead against extremism in their communities it is more likely for crises to be resolved without recourse to violence. Similar patterns arise when women are involved in prevention efforts: there are countless cases of women in adopting effective nonviolent approaches rooted in cooperation, trust, and access to communities. This goes to show that women can play a variety of roles when conflict occurs.
PEOPLE, NOT PAWNS: WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN VIOLENT EXTREMISM ACROSS MENA
Throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), recent media reports have highlighted an apparent rise in women's active participation in violent extremist organizations. This includes their deployment in combat operations, and roles as suicide bombers, propagandists, recruiters, and mobilizers. Despite the novelty and sensationalism with which the media has treated the topic in recent years, women have participated in violent extremist organizations (VEOs) in the MENA region and beyond for decades. To date, however, women's roles have been largely overlooked in both research and policy responses. Although attention to date has focused on Western women traveling to Syria and Iraq to join or fight with Daesh, women from the MENA region have also taken up the cause in large numbers, albeit more quietly.
The gendered dimensions of violent extremism in North Africa: approaches, policy and practice
UN Women, UN Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate, ODI, 2020
This paper critically unpacks existing state and society responses to gender and violent extremism in North Africa, identificaties key regional and local stakeholders in countering and preventing violent extremism, as well as discusses successes and failures in C/PVE programming and policies, all from a North African perspective
Women, Daesh and Radicalisation: A Milieu Approach, RUSI Journal, Volume 162, Issue 3, 2017
RUSI Journal, 2017
In this article, Elizabeth Pearson and Emily Winterbotham explore the role of gender in radicalisation to Daesh (also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS). They discuss possible factors in female radicalisation, and how radicalisation differs between men and women. They find that the gender of the recruit affects the enabling factors, mechanisms and locations relating to radicalisation. The article challenges assertions that the recruitment of young men and women to Daesh follows identical patterns, as well as the narrative of women as innately peaceful, or as actors coerced into joining Daesh, revealing the importance of female empowerment in the group’s appeal.
There is a presumption that women do not use violence as a means of exercising their political will, because most traditional notions of femininity emphasize motherhood, peacefulness, and stability. Like the repressive power relations between men and women in Islamic State society, the norms that dominated Western culture throughout the early 20th century mirror those affecting women under the IS regime in many ways. In Northern Ireland, these norms shaped women's identities prior to, during, and after the conflict; analysis of female fighters in Northern Ireland provides a parallel context for understanding women participating in other violent non-state armed groups like IS. This paper seeks to understand which factors make women vulnerable or averse to radicalization, and asks: do these factors differ from those that drive men into violent extremist groups? Understanding similarities and differences between men and women with regard to radicalization will enable policymakers to develop policies that effectively prevent and disrupt violent extremism.
Understanding Violence Against Women in Africa, 2021
• To understand the various theories explaining the origin, formation and survival of extremism and radicalization. • To analyze the context, with regard to which policies determine women's participation in countering violent extremism (CVE). • To examine socio-culture and political factors determining women's participation in CVE. • To discuss the role of CSOs in influencing women's participation in CVE. • To identify and discuss strategies that would effectively address women's participation in CVE.
Extremism and violence against women
This report synthesises a rapid review of the literature on women and violent extremism,1 looking at women’s roles in violent extremist groups and acts over the last 15 years, and at the relationship between violent extremism and violence against women and girls. While gender has tended to be ignored in the literature on terrorism and political violence, a gender perspective of violent extremism has started to receive media and academic attention recently, driven by an increasing awareness of the roles of women in preventing, promoting and participating in violent extremism.
Special Issue Introduction for Terrorism, Gender and Women: Toward an Integrated Research Agenda
Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 2020
This special issue encourages a greater integration of gender-sensitive approaches to studies of violent extremism and terrorism. It seeks to create and inspire a dialogue by suggesting the necessity of incorporating gender analysis to fill gaps within, and further enhance, our understanding of political violence. In this introductory essay, I argue that there have traditionally been four approaches to understanding the interplay between gender and terrorism– positivist or “gender-as-a-variable”, instrumentalist, gendered motivations, and gender-based analysis and/or feminist methodology. Terrorism, Gender and Women: Toward an Integrated Research Agenda intends to advance a discussion of new ways in understanding how women and men can be affected by terrorism and violent extremism differently, and how involvement can often be influenced by highly gendered experiences and considerations.
Women Radicalization in the Arab World
Migration Letters, 2024
The study explores the drivers of radicalization among females from 12 Arab states (Kuwait, UAE, Oman, KSA, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, and Egypt). A sample of 2624 young female students was selected, of whom 11.7% were expatriates and 88.3% were citizens. A 44-item questionnaire with relevant scales was used. The instrument has a strong reliability (α=0.96) and a construct validity (LSC and Radicalization Scale) of (r= 0.723, α=0.00). Findings showed that all independent variables combined explained 67% of the variance of female radicalization, and a significant overall impact of independent variables on female’s radicalization (F 214.806 α=0.00). Results showed a uniquely significant contribution of all predictors with the exception of location, father’s work, and religiosity. However, significant differences were found in females’ radicalization attributed to religion, (F=123.932, α=0.000) and residence (citizen vs. Expat) (F=4.349, α=0.03). Security implications such as understanding factors behind women terrorist radicalization and the women’s roles in preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization were discussed.
WOMEN IN PREVENTING AND COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM
The training guide was funded by UN Women, with financial contributions from the government of Qatar and the government of United Arab Emirates. ICSVE provided substantial contributions into the content of this guide.