Abstract
This chapter examines what participants think violent extremism is, and how gender matters in what causes it. It focuses on radicalisation to the violent jihad and interactions between multiple layers of factors in recruitment. Communities highlight societal issues of discrimination, alienation and poverty, but also individual factors including belonging and identity. Each of these is gendered and different for men and for women, because the communities they live in have different expectations of each. There are complex engagements with gender and agency, empowerment and Islam. Generation gaps are evident in the responses of women to issues such as the burqa or niqab. There are no easy answers here, but one thing is clear, that gender is an essential part of understanding extremism.
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Notes
- 1.
The term PVE had little resonance with focus group participants and the terms CVE and PVE were generally avoided during discussion.
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Pearson, E., Winterbotham, E., Brown, K.E. (2020). Violent Extremism and Gender: Knowledge and Experience. In: Countering Violent Extremism. Rethinking Political Violence. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21962-8_5
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