Gender and preventing violent extremism : Australia's current practices and future developments

Terrorist incidents in the last decade have declined globally however, the threats that radicalization and extremism pose to national and regional security persist (Mullins 2020). In the Asia-Pacific region, recent incidents of suicide bombings in the Philippines, the rise of right-wing extremist groups in Australia and New Zealand, and ISIS-inspired violence in South Asia have raised regional security concerns (Mullins 2020; Johnston et al. 2020). In response to these threats, states in the region have implemented a multitude of policies, programs, and measures. However, there is little evidence of the integration of gendered perspectives within Counter-Terrorism/Countering Violent Extremism (CT/CVE) responses in the region (True 2016). A lack of gendered perspective contributes to the adoption of interventions that position women as victims and peaceful actors and engages them through their nurturing roles and relationships with “violent” males (Henshaw 2016; Eager 2016). CT/CVE programs and measures further deny women agency by positioning them as conduits of information on radicalised males and assumes that male influence informs decisions to participate in extremist organisations (Asante and Shepherd 2020). However, research shows that women have planned and perpetrated extremist violence, do hold a multitude of roles within extremist organisations, and like men, contribute to extremism for redemption, adventure, a sense of belonging, religious motivations, and as a response to socio-economic disadvantages (Eager 2016; Henshaw 2017).