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Terrorism

Women and Islamic-State Terrorism: An Assessment of How Gender Perspectives Are Integrated in Countering Violent Extremism Policy and Practices

Citation:

Patel, Sofia, and Jacqueline Westermann. 2018. “Women and Islamic-State Terrorism: An Assessment of How Gender Perspectives Are Integrated in Countering Violent Extremism Policy and Practices.” Security Challenges 14 (2): 53-83.

 

Authors: Sofia Patel, Jacqueline Westermann

Abstract:

This paper discusses Western women’s involvement with Islamic State terrorism, to evaluate how governments and civil society can comprehensively develop countering violent extremism (CVE) strategies that are inclusive of gender perspectives. The paper’s overarching goal is to demonstrate that existing approaches to CVE do not adequately incorporate the challenges posed by women and for women, and that much more empirical research is required to develop a holistic understanding of women’s experiences with violent extremism. CVE initiatives must engage women at all stages including design, implementation, operation and evaluation, and engagement must comply with human rights standards, and in advancement of gender equality. A set of policy recommendations for Australia will be provided based on assessing existing national and international practices.

 

Topics: Gender, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Human Rights, Terrorism, Violence

Year: 2018

Gender and Jihad: Women from the Caucasus in the Syrian Conflict

Citation:

Kvakhadze, Aleksandre. 2020. “Gender and Jihad: Women from the Caucasus in the Syrian Conflict.” Perspectives on Terrorism 14 (2): 69-79.

Author: Aleksandre Kvakhadze

Abstract:

According to media reports, hundreds of women from the North Caucasian republics, Georgia and Azerbaijan have migrated to jihadi-controlled territories. This article has a threefold aim: to discuss the motivational features of female volunteers from the Caucasus region, to describe their functional role, and to explain their limited involvement in the hostilities. The findings indicate that the motivation for most women volunteers from the Caucasus has involved family relationships; further, rather than participating in combat, they have served in various supportive positions.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Conflict, Gender, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Religion, Terrorism Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East, Europe, South Caucasus Countries: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Syria

Year: 2020

Gendering Terror: Discourses of Terrorism and Writing Woman-as-Agent

Citation:

Auchter, Jessica. 2012. “Gendering Terror: Discourses of Terrorism and Writing Woman-as-Agent.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 14 (1): 121–39.

Author: Jessica Auchter

Abstract:

This article problematizes the deployment of the concept of agency in contemporary international relations scholarship. It examines the problems of relying on a foundationalist conception of agency as a tool to achieve meaningful political action by exploring the case of scholarship on the topic of women and terrorism. I argue that scholars on the topic of women and terrorism inscribe agency into women's subjectivities, that is, they place agency as the goal of feminist political action. By tracing the way that scholars write agency into women's subjectivities through an examination of the literature on the topic, I am able to demonstrate how reliance on agency as a foundational concept hinders the goals of feminists.

Keywords: agency, terrorism, performativity, feminism

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Women, Terrorism

Year: 2012

Women, Gender, and the Evolving Tactics of Boko Haram

Citation:

Zenn, Jacob, and Elizabeth Pearson. 2014. "Women, Gender, and the Evolving Tactics of Boko Haram." Journal of Terrorism Research 5 (1): 46-57.

Authors: Jacob Zenn, Elizabeth Pearson

Abstract:

This article addresses an under-researched aspect of Boko Haram’s activities: gender-based violence (GBV) and its targeting of women. It argues that 2013 marked a significant evolution in Boko Haram’s tactics, with a series of kidnappings, in which one of the main features was the instrumental use of women. This was in response to corresponding tactics by the Nigerian security forces. Additionally the analysis provides evidence of a shift by Boko Haram to include women in its operations, in response to increased pressure on male operatives. It also considers the gendered rationale for instrumentalizing women within the framework of Boko Haram’s ideology and culture, arguing for a greater appreciation of how gender factors in the group’s violence.

Keywords: Boko Haram, terrorism, radicalisation, kidnapping, tactics, gender, women

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Gender Roles, Gender-Based Violence, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Non-State Armed Groups, Terrorism, Violence Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2014

The Law on the Use of Force: A Feminist Analysis

Citation:

Heathcote, Gina. 2011. The Law on the Use of Force: A Feminist Analysis. New York: Routledge Research in International Law. 

Author: Gina Heathcote

Annotation:

Summary:
The book presents the international laws on the use of force whilst demonstrating the unique insight a feminist analysis offers this central area of international law. The book highlights key conceptual barriers to the enhanced application of the law of the use of force, and develops international feminist method through rigorous engagement with the key writers in the field. The book looks at the key aspects of the UN Charter relevant to the use of force - Article 2(4), Article 51 and Chapter VII powers - as well as engaging with contemporary debates on the possibility of justified force to meet self-determination or humanitarian goals. The text also discusses the arguments in favour of the use of pre-emptive force and reflects on the role feminist legal theories can play in exposing the inconsistencies of contemporary arguments for justified force under the banner of the war on terror. Throughout the text state practice and institutional documentation are analysed, alongside key instances of the use of force. The book makes a genuine, urgently needed contribution to a central area of international law, demonstrating the capacity of feminist legal theories to enlarge our understanding of key international legal dilemmas. (Summary from Routledge)

Topics: Feminisms, International Law, Humanitarian Assistance, Terrorism, Violence

Year: 2011

The Gender and Security Agenda: Strategies for the 21st Century

Citation:

Oudraat, Chantal de Jonge, and Michael E. Brown, eds. 2020. The Gender and Security Agenda: Strategies for the 21st Century. London: Routledge.

Authors: Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, Michael E. Brown

Annotation:

Summary:
This book examines the gender dimensions of a wide array of national and international security challenges.
 
The volume examines gender dynamics in ten issue areas in both the traditional and human security sub-fields: armed conflict, post-conflict, terrorism, military organizations, movement of people, development, environment, humanitarian emergencies, human rights, governance. The contributions show how gender affects security and how security problems affect gender issues.
 
Each chapter also examines a common set of key factors across the issue areas: obstacles to progress, drivers of progress and long-term strategies for progress in the 21st century. The volume develops key scholarship on the gender dimensions of security challenges and thereby provides a foundation for improved strategies and policy directions going forward. The lesson to be drawn from this study is clear: if scholars, policymakers and citizens care about these issues, then they need to think about both security and gender.
 
This will be of much interest to students of gender studies, security studies, human security and International Relations in general. (Summary from Routledge)
 
Table of Contents:
 
1. Gender and Security: Framing the Agenda 
Chantal de Jonge Oudraat and Michael E. Brown
 
2. Gender and Armed Conflict 
Kathleen Kuehnast
 
3. Gender and Peacebuilding 
Anne Marie Goetz and Rob Jenkins
 
4. Gender and Terrorism 
Jeannette Gaudry Haynie
 
5. Gender and Military Organizations 
Ellen Haring 
 
6. Gender and Population Movements 
Jane Freedman
 
7. Gender, Development and Security 
Jeni Klugman
 
8. Gender and Environmental Security 
Edward R. Carr
 
9. Gender, Humanitarian Emergencies and Security 
Tamara Nair
 
10. Gender, Human Rights and Security 
Corey Levine and Sari Kouvo
 
11. Gender, Governance and Security 
Jacqui True and Sara E. Davies
 
12. Promoting Gender and Security: Obstacles, Drivers and Strategies 
Chantal de Jonge Oudraat and Michael E. Brown

 

Topics: Armed Conflict, Development, Environment, Gender, Governance, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Peace and Security, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding, Rights, Human Rights, Terrorism

Year: 2020

Literary Testimonies of War and Conflict of Twentieth-Century British and Pakistani Women Writers

Citation:

Ashraf, Ana. 2020. "Literary Testimonies of War and Conflict of Twentieth-Century British and Pakistani Women Writers." PhD diss., KU Leuven.

Author: Ana Ashraf

Annotation:

Summary:
In this research project, I propose to focus on the literary representation of War in the fiction of modern and contemporary women writers referring mostly to three historic conflicts (WWI, WWII & War on Terror) with the help of textual analysis of their works under the theoretical frameworks of feminist criticism and testimony. This dissertation, through close textual study of selected primary texts, aims a thorough examination of literary responses of women writers writing about three different historic conflicts, namely; WWI, WWII, and War on Terror. At one level, the objective is to show how women writers as diverse as Virginia Woolf, Vera Brittain, Rebbeca West, Olivia Manning, Stevie Smith, Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Lessing, Fatima Bhutto, and Sara Suleri have their own individual take on war. At another level, this dissertation aims to trace the common patterns underlying these diverse responses to war; to investigate whether a female tradition of war testimonies can be discovered. It intends to emphasize the significance of developing a feminist approach to war literature. It attempts to understand what Barbara Bellow Watson while analyzing the complex response of Elizabeth Bowen's War novel The Heat of the Day refers to as 'literature of Silence' and to locate in that silence a testimonial quality of an actively observant female artist rather than a helplessly passive woman who lacks authentic experience to talk about war. My claim is that no comprehensive attempt has been made previously to connect, combine and unify the female artistic testimony in fiction to war especially with reference to their current relevance under the discourse of feminism and testimony. (Summary from KU Leuven Lirias)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Terrorism Regions: Asia, South Asia, Europe, Northern Europe Countries: Pakistan, United Kingdom

Year: 2019

Women, Internal Displacement and the Boko Haram Conflict: Broadening the Debate

Citation:

Ajayi, Titilope F. 2020. "Women, Internal Displacement and the Boko Haram Conflict: Broadening the Debate." African Security 13 (2): 171-94.

Author: Titilope F. Ajayi

Abstract:

Women and children make up 79 per cent of the population displaced by the conflict between the Nigerian government and the armed movement informally known as Boko Haram. Their lived experiences expose the considerable protection and humanitarian risks of being female in violent contexts and the complexities of addressing them. In addition to open conflict and inconsistent policy and humanitarian responses, women’s displacement is being protracted by disjunctures between women’s roles and their construction as victims in policy and humanitarian frameworks. Construed as lacking agency, displaced women are resisting the hardship of displacement by returning to Boko Haram. This article argues for a rethinking of the importance of context, autonomy and agency as a prerequisite to reconciling false narratives about women’s experiences of conflict and displacement and their lived realities. It speaks to broader debates about women and conflict and the utility of current approaches and frameworks for addressing the roles and needs of women in these contexts.

Keywords: Nigeria, gender and security, IDPs, UNSCR 1325, women, peace and security in Africa

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Gender, Women, Humanitarian Assistance, Peace and Security, Terrorism, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325 Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2020

Gender and Countering Violent Extremism in Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans

Citation:

Asante, Doris, and Laura J. Shepherd. 2020. "Gender and Countering Violent Extremism in Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans." European Journal of Politics and Gender. doi:10.1332/251510820X15854973578842.

Authors: Doris Asante, Laura J. Shepherd

Abstract:

Using discourse analysis, this research explores the representation of gender roles and identities in relation to counter-terrorism/countering violent extremism in 38 national action plans for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and associated United Nations Security Council resolutions. Representations of gender in relation to counter-terrorism/countering violent extremism in the national action plans that we analyse fix women in subordinate and passive subject positions while presuming that men are inherently violent and extremist. These findings have implications not only for scholarship on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, but also for policy practice in this area. Key messages WPS NAPs that discuss CT/CVE tend to represent women as inherently peaceful and men as inherently violent/’risky’. WPS NAPs that discuss CT/CVE predominantly position women in relation to local/informal politics and in need of capacity building to be able to participate in broader/formal CT/CVE activities.

Keywords: counter-terrorism, countering violent extremism, gender, peace, representation, security, women

Topics: Gender, Gender Roles, Terrorism, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, Violence

Year: 2020

Without Water, There Is No Life’: Negotiating Everyday Risks and Gendered Insecurities in Karachi’s Informal Settlements

Citation:

Anwar, Nausheen H., Amiera Sanas, and Daanish Mustafa. 2020. “‘Without Water, There Is No Life’: Negotiating Everyday Risks and Gendered Insecurities in Karachi’s Informal Settlements.” Urban Studies 56 (6): 1320-37.

Authors: Nausheen H. Anwar, Amiera Sanas, Daanish Mustafa

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
This article provides new insights into the politics of water provisioning in Karachi’s informal settlements, where water shortages and contaminations have pushed ordinary citizens to live on the knife edge of water scarcity. We turn our attention to the everyday practices that involve gendered insecurities of water in Karachi, which has been Pakistan’s security laboratory for decades. We explore four shifting security logics that strongly contribute to the crisis of water provisioning at the neighbourhood level and highlight an emergent landscape of ‘securitised water’. Gender maps the antagonisms between these security logics, so we discuss the impacts on ordinary women and men as they experience chronic water shortages. In Karachi, a patriarchal stereotype of the militant or terrorist-controlled water supply is wielded with the aim of upholding statist national security concerns that undermine women’s and men’s daily security in water provisioning whereby everyday issues of risk and insecurity appear politically inconsequential. We contend that risk has a very gendered nature and it is women that experience it both in the home and outside.
 

CHINESE ABSTRACT:

本文为卡拉奇非正规住区的供水政治提供了新的见解，在那里水资源短缺和污染已经迫使普通公民生活在水资源短缺的边缘上。我们将注意力转向卡拉奇的日常做法，这些做法涉及供水不安全方面的性别差异，卡拉奇几十年来一直是巴基斯坦的安全风向标。我们探索了四种不断变化的安全逻辑，这些逻辑极大地加深了街区层面的供水危机，并凸显了新出现的、“供水成为安全议题”的局面。性别差异说明了这些安全逻辑之间的对立，因此我们讨论了长期缺水对普通妇女和男人生活的影响。在卡拉奇，受军方或恐怖分子控制的供水实行严格的父权制。其目的是以破坏普通人的日常供水安全为代价，维护一种中央集权式的国家安全，在这种体制下，人们日常生活中的风险和不安全问题在政治上显得无关紧要。我们认为风险具有非常强的性别差异质，女性在家庭和外部都会经历这种风险.

Keywords: exclusion, gender, infrastructure, politics, poverty, security, social justice, water, 关键词, 排斥, 性别, 基础设施, 政治, 贫困, 安全, 社会正义, 水

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Terrorism, Security Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Pakistan

Year: 2020

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