Persistent gendered assumptions about women and violence predominately depict women as non-violent and peaceful. Due to this gender blindness and simplistic frames used to understand the attraction of women toward far-right extremist groups, women tend to get overlooked as active participants, and their roles ignored or downplayed. This not only hinders the overall understanding of far-right extremist groups but also impedes the development of effective counterprograms that specifically address the experiences and paths of these women.

Drawing from the experiences and insights of German initiatives and from additional literature on the topic, this policy note explores the wide-ranging motivations of women joining far-right extremist groups and the different roles they can play in them. By including wider research to why women leave far-right extremist groups, the policy note offers lessons learned and recommendations that may be helpful in optimizing prevention and exit programs aimed at women in far-right extremist groups beyond the German context. 

 

Suggested citation:

De Leede, Seran. Tackling Women’s Support of Far-Right Extremism: Experiences from Germany. Washington, D.C.: RESOLVE Network, 2021. https://doi.org/10.37805/pn2021.13.remve.