Anti-feminism, gender and the far-right gap in C/PVE measures

Due to an overwhelming focus on Islamist extremism, western strategies to Counter or Prevent Violent Extremism (C/PVE) have largely neglected the growing far-right threat. In this article, we draw attention to the gender blind spot in C/PVE strategies by arguing that misogyny and masculinism go beyond ‘anti-women’ sentiment and align with the far-right’s valorisation of order, hierarchy and traditional values. This blind spot in C/PVE measures has significance for understanding the current limitations of tackling violent extremism and the disconnection between misogyny, masculinism and how we apprehend violent extremism. Therefore, a gender lens must be adopted to understand the nature of far-right extremism and such views within wider societal contexts. We examine the recent C/PVE strategies of select western states to show that they rarely connect far-right ideology and gender, and that gender is mostly represented in terms of women and role type. Australia serves as a case study based on its overt masculinism, where attitudes towards women and misogynistic violence underscore broader political and societal debates which can feed the growth of the far-right, especially when focused on the aspects of masculinism that the far-right shares with mainstream politics.