Gender, Religion and Countering Violent Extremism

Bridging Voices Final Report Georgetown University M.A. Conflict Resolution Program Gender, Religion and Countering Violent Extremism Following the first successful one-day workshop in London, conducted by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in June, the M.A. Conflict Resolution Program at Georgetown University hosted the second one-day workshop on Gender, Religion and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) on September 28, 2016, in Washington D.C. Focusing on how societies can work effectively with faith-based actors and female leaders to address the often overlooked gendered dynamics of radicalization and underlying drivers of extremist violence, the workshop aimed at initiating a dialogue among policy makers, scholars and practitioners in the field to address the rarely explored intersection of religion and gender within the context of countering violent extremism. It aimed at clarifying the current state of practice, policy, and research at the intersection of gender, religion, and CVE, identifying strengths, gaps and limitations and exploring ways to strengthen inter-sectoral approaches at the levels of policy, research and practice. The three objectives of this workshop were to: 1. clarify the state of practice, policy, and research at the intersection of gender, religion, and CVE; 2. identify the strengths, gaps and limitations throughout the three sectors in the field; and 3. develop recommendations for strengthening an inter-sectoral approach at the levels of policy, research and practice. 1

Based on these broader objectives, the workshop was divided into two parts. The first part consisted of guiding remarks by outstanding experts in the field and panel presentations on case studies from three different regional contexts which demonstrated the interplay of gender, religion, and CVE in practice. The following second half of the workshop included two sets of breakout sessions which engaged the participants to work within and across stakeholder groups to develop and exchange ideas. This program agenda allowed for insightful, stimulating as well as practical discussions throughout the day which can be sustained through professional and personal networks among (and beyond) the participants which the initiative has sought to build. Summary of Recommendations for Policy, Research and Practice Some of the key cross-sectoral recommendations identified throughout the workshop included: Work collaboratively towards developing an enhanced understanding of the intersection between gender, religion and CVE; Transform the CVE discourse to focus on positives, formulating what the situation should look like in contrast to current focus on a securitized discourse; Based on grassroots-driven research, scholars need to ask new questions, challenge established terminologies and frameworks to establish more dynamic responses to the rapidly evolving field of radicalism and extremist violence that will inform the theories of change, and institutional and legal frameworks; Establish better tools and strategies to quantify and measure the counterfactuals involved in assessing the impact of programs that are designed to prevent radicalization and violent extremism. Such strategies could be appropriated from the field of peace and conflict prevention, e.g. through conflict analysis and by developing and comparing different scenarios and trajectories of radicalization with the observed levels of extremism in a given community following an intervention; Engage local communities, notably women, youths and religious actors, in monitoring and evaluation activities to ensure greater sustainability of CVE interventions; Acknowledge women s role in CVE, step up women s empowerment on the local, regional, national and international levels by providing adequate resources, technical assistance, networks and education; Keep an open dialogue and support credible local voices, including female and religious leaders, and other traditionally marginalized communities, and amplify the work that is already being done on the ground; Ensure that policies developed are rooted in communities and responsive to their needs by conducting needs assessment and stakeholder analysis, and build mutual trust between these stakeholder groups by identifying best practices and lessons learned; Provide more opportunities through seminars, conferences to bring together policymakers, scholars and civil society actors on local levels to include the perspective of all stakeholders; 2

Create safe spaces for religious women to effectively engage in countering extremist as well as patriarchal tendencies in their faith groups and communities; Improve accountability, e.g. by using conditionality for women s participation in CVE programs. Rationale: Addressing the Intersection of Gender, Religion and CVE As they are grappling with how to most effectively address the threat of violent extremism, government agencies, civil society organizations, and researchers are increasingly recognizing the important role gender plays in violent extremism. Extremist organizations in contexts as diverse as Nigeria, Somalia, Afghanistan, Thailand, Syria, and Iraq are directly and indirectly targeting women. In addition to killing, raping and enslaving hundreds of women, extremist groups also deliberately attack educational, economic and social opportunities for women and girls. While the devastating effects of violent extremism on women and girls are increasingly being recognized, women have been a blind spot for security, academic and think tank sectors until recently. In addition to being victims of these groups, women play a variety of active roles such as supporting, perpetuating, and preventing violence and as powerful and active agents of change and peace building. Although many policy makers, practitioners and scholars are now recognizing the diverse role women play and are calling for the development of gender-sensitive programming and involving women in the design, implementation and evaluation of these programs, the intersection of religion, gender and countering violent extremism is often overlooked. In fact, there has often been an emphasis on delinking religion and extremism and for valid reasons. There are a variety of reasons to consider the intersection of religion and gender in developing effective strategies to counter violent extremism in various contexts while emphasizing that religious beliefs per se are not extremist and extremism takes different forms including non-religious form. The intersection of their religious and gender identities at times make women particularly vulnerable to attacks, discrimination and humiliation, for instance when religious identities of women are visible through their hijab or burkini. Developing effective strategies to engage and empower women in CVE requires understanding the religious and cultural practices that maintain and sustain patriarchal structures that privilege men and marginalize women While patriarchy is not limited to religious communities, and not all religious traditions are necessarily patriarchal, many religious traditions sustain and perpetuate patriarchal structures as they are led by male clergy and are accompanied by patriarchal religious and cultural practices. Consequently, many women s organizations and scholars have been proponents of delinking religion and gender as they see these traditions undermining women s equality and empowerment. However, engaging male and female religious leaders, understanding the religious and cultural sources that can empower women to play more active roles in their societies are 3

important to transform patriarchal systems that curb the rights of these women and provide a framework for developing culturally relevant intervention strategies that are developed and owned by the communities. On the other hand, while women are often underrepresented among the religious leadership, many religious women feel deeply connected to and inspired by their faith traditions to work in areas of social justice, peacebuilding and countering violent extremism. Yet, perspectives of these women are often either ignored or dismissed as they are considered brainwashed by secular organizations and activists who call for their emancipation. Such approaches deny the agency of religious women and hold them in a so-called double bind, as their agency is being denied by both secular feminists and the often patriarchal religious establishment. Engaging women of faith becomes particularly important in responding to violent extremism in communities where religion plays an important part of socio-cultural life and religious traditions are used to justify violence and recruit new members. Understanding the intersection of religion and gender is also important in contexts where religious identities and narratives are used to radicalize women. In these circumstances, understanding how women s identity frameworks, including religious identity can help contribute to address religiously based radicalization and how extremist groups leverage religious interpretations to further gender-based subjugation while also using religion as a tool for recruiting women into violent extremist groups. Although some of the push and pull factors that influence these decisions may be similar for males and females, others are rooted in different gender norms and expectations firmly embedded in these religious and cultural frameworks. Understanding the role women play in CVE differs based on the gender roles rooted in the religio-cultural traditions of their societies and how these traditions impact gender relations and power dynamics is vital in developing contextually relevant solutions and interventions designed and implemented by women and inform gender-specific narratives to counter these messages while considering the safety and well-being of the women involved in these contexts. Part 1: Presentations and Panel Discussion Experiences from the Field After welcoming remarks by Ambassador (ret.) Kenneth Yalowitz, Director of the M.A. Conflict Resolution Program, Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, delivered a keynote speech focusing on how violent extremism affects women, but also on how women perpetuate or prevent this global security threat around the globe. Touching upon the timely example of ISIS and other extremist groups, Ambassador Verveer underlined the significant challenge for religion in being manipulated in the hands of radical extremists. While this problem had its share of historical antecedents across all religions, she emphasized that Islam in particular is being hijacked by extremist groups and used as justification for violence against women and girls. ISIS, for example, uses sexual violence and the sexual subjugation of women as effective tactic for their mission of re-establishing the Islamic 4

caliphate through the lure of sex slavery to recruit foreign fighters, using rape as bonding experience among the men, and generating income through the trafficking of women and girls. Ambassador Verveer underlined the importance of UNSC Resolution 1325 (2000), which recognized the unique and disproportionate burdens faced by women in wartime, the need to protect them and the importance of their participation in conflict prevention, resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. After several augmenting resolutions have been adopted in the following years, the most recent one, UNSC Resolution 2242 (2015) specifically included countering violent extremism as part of the women, peace and security mandate. Ambassador Verveer outlined the parallels between the 1325 framework and countering violent extremism in that the condition of women, for example, is often an early warning sign for greater instability and civil strife. She therefore insisted that the participation and engagement of women in addressing these challenges at every level of decision-making be seen not as an option but a necessity that affects the sustainability of peace. Women s organizations at the grassroots level are already working to empower women as agents of positive change. CVE strategies thus need to ensure the promotion of women s rights and support the role of local women s organizations, both religious and secular. Mindful of the religious dimension that often underlies the push and pull factors of radicalization and extremist violence, Ambassador Verveer ended on the powerful note that reform in societies of concern can only occur if the religious context is taken into account. Thus, religious arguments need to be advanced to advance women s rights and CVE. Katherine Marshall, Program Director at Georgetown s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, went on to frame the intersection of gender, religion and CVE and pointed to issues around definitions for the following discussions. Highlighting the numerous similarities between gender and religion in the security and CVE discourse, Marshall pointed out that there is often only little interaction, if any, between actors that work on gender and those who work on religion, suggesting a need to bridge the existing divide between the two spheres. CVE as a relatively new, broad and so far not uniformly defined concept and set of practices, while commonly bearing the risk of lumping everything together, thus also gives room to address both religion and gender. Problematizing the replicability of Western (often secular) feminism throughout different contexts, the following plenary discussion acknowledged that the agency of religious women is often undermined by a so-called double-bind between secular female activists and religious gatekeepers, who are often male. However, under some circumstances, as pointed out by the participants, this can be used as strategic invisibility by religious women to engage in CVE practices in their societies; especially in contexts where conducting community efforts under the label of CVE can undermine actors credibility. The following three panel presentations each focused on the panelists own experiences with practical CVE efforts in different field contexts. Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, Executive Director of the International Civil Society Action Network, highlighted that women and minority groups are 5

usually the first ones to sense extremism in their communities before it turns violent, while the international community often misinterprets the early warning signs of extremism as culture and only realizes its threat once they metastasize into terrorism. With regard to religion, Naraghi-Anderlini pointed at the difference between religion and patriarchy which, in the Middle Eastern context which she referred to, allows for the differentiation between regularly peaceful Islam and stealth sectarianism, often promoting radicalism based on positive messaging. Acknowledging that community-based actors and women s organizations in the field in many cases have already been working on what is now broadly referred to as P/CVE (preventing and countering violent extremism), she stressed the importance of incorporating those credible local actors into policy and research, engaging with radicalism before it turns violent, and giving more attention to women s rights activism to strengthen and support already existing communal CVE efforts. Martine Miller, Senior Advisor at the Network for Traditional and Religious Peacebuilders, presented gendered responses to the rise of Buddhist- and Islamic-framed extremism in Central to Southeast Asia. Looking at examples from her fieldwork in Myanmar, South Thailand, Philippines and Afghanistan, she pointed out the rise of Buddhist-framed nationalism and violence which is often overlooked in light of the Islamic focus in the CVE discourse while much attention is devoted to the presence of ISIS in places like the Philippines. In order to counter any form of religiously-motivated violence and to bridge the developing fault line between Buddhist- and Islamist-framed extremism, Miller emphasized the crucial importance of prevention through networks of Muslim and Buddhist women and youth as well as the necessary mobilization of religious clergy. Third, Hafsat Maina Mohammed, Executive Director of Choice for Peace, presented her personal experiences in working with women in Nigeria and the threat from Boko Haram. Pointing out the large number of female perpetrators of violence recruited by Boko Haram, she identified push and pull factors behind the yet growing numbers of female fighters and suicide bombers notably the economic hardships that women regularly have to endure and the result of brainwashing following abduction by the group. Inconsistent with Boko Haram s own rhetoric, Mohammed pointed out that the group is political rather than religious in nature. Yet, she argued, religious actors have to be engaged from the beginning in identifying and addressing problems related to radicalization and extremism, given their unique potential to present counter-narratives within their own faith groups as well as their role in providing psychosocial support to those vulnerable of recruitment. Moreover, she suggested that religious education based on the promotion of peace and tolerance is at the core of countering extremist messaging rooted in wrongful interpretations of faith as used by Boko Haram. 6

Part 2: Breakout Sessions Intra- and Cross-Sectoral Exchanges 1. Identifying the Current State, Limitations and Needs During the first breakout session, separate intra-sectoral discussions took place among policymakers, scholars and practitioners respectively focusing on the intersection of gender, religion and CVE from their different professional points of view. Group 1: Policy Makers The discussion in this group was guided by the following three guiding questions: 1) What national, regional and international policies are you aware of that are relevant to the intersection of gender, religion and CVE? 2) What are the strengths and limitations of existing policies? 3) How can policymakers work best with and support researchers and practitioners? This breakout session focused on the national, regional, and international policies already put in place that bridge gender, religion, and CVE. Rooted in UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women Peace and Security, the UN Plan of Action in which extremism is assumed, but is not fully stated, is the most comprehensive plan. It recognizes the importance of women s organizations and engaging religious leaders in intra and interfaith dialogues. The participants critiqued the negative and military-focused framing of current frameworks and policies that ignored the need for discussions on development, social cohesion, and inclusivity. They also pointed out that current policies frame these issues as an external threat, ignoring extremism that can arise and spread from within, while women are often framed as mothers or in association with the family unit, limiting and simplifying the myriad of roles women are effectively playing. Therefore, policies need to be reframed to allow for greater adaptability and mobility in order to be successful. Addressing how policymakers can best work with and support researchers and practitioners, the participants found that currently the research is not based on the practice and the practice is shaped by the policies, leaving a gap between the research and practice. Therefore, a more collaborative approach where policymakers listen to practitioners and researchers is needed. The session ended by recognizing the most common barriers to women s participation. By reaching religious leaders and finding ways to implement them in CVE, practitioners and policymakers continue to largely exclude women. Group 2: Scholars The second group focused on the role of scholars of the field and the group discussion was guided by the the following three questions: 1) What is the current state of research on gender, religion, and CVE? 2) What is the quality of existing research and what are the gaps? 7

3) How can scholars provide practical academic solutions to integrate gender, religion and CVE? Participants in this group discussed whether exploring the intersection of religion and gender in the context of violent extremism was a relevant and helpful perspective and acknowledged that defining the field of intersection between gender, religion and CVE is challenging, complex and has rarely been the explicit subject of scholarly attention. Especially rigorous research on the impact of CVE programs on the lives of local communities and their gender norms as well as mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of policies and resulting practices are quite rare. One of the identified main challenges of research in this field is that online recruitment and the dark web often outspeed the lengthy research process in addressing radicalization and developing response frameworks. Thus, often outdated by the time implemented, the terminology that is being used in much of the literature on CVE often seems stagnant in that it does not imply a way forward. Group 3: Practitioners The third group focused on the perspective of the practitioners and addressed the following questions: 1) What are some of the practices and strategies used by civil society organizations? 2) What do we know about their effectiveness and impact? 3) What are the challenges and opportunities for practitioners to working with policymakers and scholars in addressing gender and religion in CVE? The participants in this group highlighted the importance of self-reflective approaches when dealing with communities of concern. Mainly speaking from the perspective of international (mainly Western) civil society organizations, being self-reflective entails acknowledging often existing local capacities, and assessing what they are already doing and what is working well. Refusing patronizing notions of empowerment, often referring to power imbalances between those (external) actors who empower and the (local) people who need support, the participants agree that external interveners should primarily be concerned with amplifying the work of local actors as well as creating safe spaces for local activists to effectively engage in their critical work. Recognizing that religious authorities and women are often at the core of CVE, the participants emphasized the importance of identifying credible local partners, partnering with women s organizations and religious authorities, and building relations with these groups based on mutual trust. The participants also pointed out that in order to be effective, counter-narratives to extremism need to be rooted in religion. While engaging religious moderates to support such efforts is widely accepted, challenges remain when it comes to dealing with conservatives in extremist movements. 8

Conclusion This report aimed to summarize the rich and lively discussions that took place and recommendations that were generated during the one-day workshop on Gender, Religion and Countering Violent Extremism that was held at Georgetown University on September 28, 2016. The organizers recognized that this one-day workshop only began to scratch the surface of a complex and multifaceted field and that much work and collaboration is needed to deepen our understanding of this area. The fruitful discussions that took place and the sectoral and cross-sectoral networks that the project aimed to establish will hopefully lead to further outcomes that help to shape research, policies and practice at the intersection of gender, religion and CVE. The M.A. in Conflict Resolution program would like to thank the participants for sharing their perspectives and experiences on this topic, the British Council for its generous funding and support and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue for the fruitful partnership. 9