Section outline
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Understanding the gendered push and pull factors for joining or not joining violent extremist groups, as well as investigating the role of gender in creating various kinds of pressures and vulnerabilities, rather than assuming men and women play specific roles, is an essential part of building effective PVE programming. Understanding these gender dynamics of the local context can help programming grapple with how, why and what roles individuals take up within extremist organizations, and therefore, better prevent or counter that effect.
Gender mediates violent extremism’s push and pull factors and influences the specific characteristics of individuals who are particularly susceptible to extremism. For instance, men who are alienated and marginalized within a given society may struggle to meet traditional expectations of masculinity, such as being the breadwinner, attaining wealth and status, and enjoying access to sexual partners of choice. Research demonstrates that this may incentivize them to pursue violent paths to “validate” their masculinity. This is why violent extremist groups often use hypermasculine stereotypes to exploit dissatisfaction and grievances when recruiting men. For example, recruiters might use idealistic and simplistic images of masculinity to tap into insecurities and frustrations felt by men and young men, such as images representing physical strength or stoicism. Extreme forms of celebrating masculine roles over feminine roles leads to toxic masculinity, which are a set of socially constructed attitudes that see, and celebrate, the stereotypical masculine gender roles as being violent, unemotional, sexually aggressive, dominant, and so forth, which has a negative impact on men and also communities as a whole.
There are also push and pull factors in which violent extremists can manipulate women through their traditional gender roles, including promise of marriage or supporting family members involved in extremist activities. Violent extremist groups utilize recruitment approaches based on the exploitation of women’s barriers and needs within society to what best suits the tactical interests of extremists. It is critical to work with both women and girls and men and boys in P/CVE efforts to address the root causes of extremist activities, including gender power imbalances.
Image Source: UN Women. ‘’Women in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism.’’ 2021. https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Field%20Office%20ECA/Attachments/Publications/2021/2/PVE_TrainingManual-min.pdf
