In honor of Women’s History Month, the RESOLVE Network team’s “What We’re Reading” post for March features research exploring the role of women and gender in issues related to violent extremism.  The publications below investigate issues associated with gender inclusivity and definitions on the social, structural, and cultural level; radicalization trends and dynamics among women; and the role of women in countering and preventing violent extremism.  Each publication is sorted based on its relevance to dynamics within the RESOLVE Network’s six regions of focus, as well as on a more global level. Click the links below to view the documents.

Balkans/Caucasus

Vesë, Kelmendi, Rudinë Jakupi dhe.“Women in Violent Extremism: Lessons Learned from Kosovo.” January 2017. Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS). http://www.qkss.org/en/Reports/Women-in-Violent-Extremism-Lessons-learned-from-Kosovo-841 

Greater Middle Eats and Levant

“Women and Violent Radicalization in Jordan.” March 2016. UN Women and the Jordanian National Commission for Women. http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2016/7/women-and-violent-radicalization-in-jordan  

Gowrinathan, Nimmi. “The Women of ISIS.” August 2014. Foreign Affairs. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2014-08-21/women-isis  

North Africa Sahel

“Nigeria: Women and the Boko Haram Insurgency.” December 2016. International Crisis Group. https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/nigeria-women-and-boko-haram-insurgency  

Gachoya, Florence. “Girls as the New Weapons of Terror in West Africa.” March 2016. Africa Policy Institute. http://www.africapi.org/2016/03/22/girls-as-the-new-weapons-of-terror-in-west-africa/  

Horn of Africa

Ndung’u, Irene. “What Say Do Women Have in Kenya's Peace and Security?” July 2016. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/what-say-do-women-have-in-kenyas-peace-and-security 

Ogenga, Fredrick. “Philosophizing Alternative Pan-African Media and Society Approaches to Countering Female Violent Extremism in Kenya for Peace and Security.” December 2016. The Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ogenga_-_research_paper.pdf    

South and Central Asia

Ahmadi, Belquis, and Sadaf Lakhani. “Afghan Women and Violent Extremism: Colluding, Perpetrating or Preventing?” November 2016. U.S. Institute of Peace. https://www.usip.org/publications/2016/11/afghan-women-and-violent-extremism  

Gachoya, Florence. “A Closer Look at Men and ‘Masculinities’: Their Proactive Contribution to Gender Equality.” May 2016. Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. http://areu.org.af/archives/publication/a-closer-look-at-men-and-masculinities-their-proactive-contribution-to-gender-equality-2  

Zahid, Farhan. “Al-Qaeda’s Women Wing in Pakistan: The Shaheen Force.” July 2010. Center for Research and Security Studies. http://crss.pk/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Al-Qaeda-Women-Wing.pdf  

Southeast Asia

“The Roles of Women in Preventing Terrorism and Violent Extremism in Southeast Asia” January 2017. Global Center on Cooperative Security. http://www.globalcenter.org/project-descriptions/the-roles-of-women-in-preventing-terrorism-and-violent-extremism-in-southeast-asia/  

Turner, Kathleen. “Femme Fatales – Why Women are Drawn to Fight with Violent Extremist Groups.” April 2016. https://s3.amazonaws.com/fwvcorp/wp-content/uploads/20160419155228/FemmeFatales.pdf  

Global

Chowdhury, Fink, Naureen, Rafia Bhulai and Sara Zeiger. “A Man’s World? Exploring the Roles of Women in Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism.” April 2016. Global Center on Cooperative Security. http://www.globalcenter.org/publications/a-mans-world-exploring-the-roles-of-women-in-countering-terrorism-and-violent-extremism/