Engendering Extremism: Gender Equality and Radicalisation in the WANA Region

It has been suggested that 3,000 of the 20,000 foreign fighters who have travelled to join Daesh have been women, and while focus has primarily been upon those who came from the West, women from the WANA region were also drawn to the cause. A discussion about the relationship between gender and violent extremism is therefore imperative, not only because women are affected by violent extremist organisations (VEOs) in multiple ways, but because they play a vital role in P/CVE. This paper explores these links by considering the ongoing impact of gender inequality in the WANA region, and Jordan in particular, not just on women but on society as a whole, and how this links to P/CVE.

This publication is generously supported with funds from NWO.