Edited by Audrey Alexander

Contributors by: jacob Davey, Julia Ebner, Vese Kelemendi, Sara Mahmood, and Devorah Mrgolin

Policymakers, practitioners, and scholars are increasingly aware of women’s participation in terrorist and violent extremist groups; this affects how members of the international community attempt to mitigate risks tied to these threats. Growing concerns about women’s interactions with groups like the Islamic State (IS) and Boko Haram appear to have instigated this shift, despite a long and dynamic history of women’s participation in terrorism, violent extremism, and insurgencies around the world. Although the intersection of women, gender, and terrorism recently became a higher priority to stakeholders tasked with addressing these threats, international organizations, governments, and civil society groups are still grappling with what it means to pursue this multifaceted agenda. This paper series adds to a small but growing body of research on the topic and highlights some considerations regarding the future of women, gender, and violent extremism.

Washington, DC: Program on Extremism, George Washington University, 2019. 53p.