GENDER RESPONSIVENESS

A person’s gender will often play a significant role in how their lives are affected by terrorism. Women can actively and voluntarily support terrorist groups and be involved in the commission of terrorism-related offences, although they will often serve in different roles than men. At the same time, terrorist groups specifically target women through acts of sexual and gender-based violence – such as rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage – as a means of achieving their aims. Women may also face gender-specific difficulties when attempting to access justice and seeking remedies as victims of terrorism.

Despite the many ways in which women are specifically affected by terrorism, responses to terrorism in many countries are often led by men, who may not be best placed to consider the needs and views of women. Therefore, promoting women’s equality, human rights, and voices are essential elements in long-term efforts to comprehensively address terrorism and violent extremism.

We work with national governments to move beyond gender stereotypes about the roles of women in terrorist groups. We help governments put in place policies, laws, and criminal justice procedures that are informed by the experiences and concerns of women, including gender-sensitive investigation and prosecution approaches.

We also assist Member States on preventing and prosecuting sexual and gender-based violence committed by terrorist groups, including rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery. We do so by raising awareness of sexual and gender-based violence, helping support victims, including addressing the issue of stigmatization, and effectively criminalizing, investigating, and prosecuting these crimes.

Finally, we promote the equality, human rights, and voices of women as essential elements in long-term efforts to prevent terrorism and violent extremism. This includes promoting women’s leadership in both national counter-terrorism and criminal justice agencies and at the community level to empower women as key agents for change. We work in close collaboration with UN Women, the UN Team of Experts on Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, CTED, OCT, and OHCHR.

Publications

We have developed a one-of-a-kind Handbook on Gender Dimensions of Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism. It contains essential information on gender-adapted responses for judicial officials, prosecutors, law enforcement and corrections officers, and lawyers assisting suspects or victims of terrorism. It will also be instructive for policymakers, lawmakers, and civil society organizations. The handbook is also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish.

Legal and policy recommendations are provided, based on international standards and effective practices of international, regional and selected national bodies, in order to assist the users in addressing some of the key gender issues that arise in criminal justice responses to terrorism. The handbook follows a multidisciplinary approach, integrating best practices from different fields of expertise including the promotion of women’s rights and equality, and the elimination of violence against women.

Based on the Handbook on Gender Dimensions of Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism, UNODC developed Training Modules with a country-specific focus for Nigeria, Bangladesh, and the Maldives. These tailor-made training modules form the basis for trainings on gender dimensions of terrorism given to judges and prosecutors.

Achievements

UNODC has provided training to over 700 counter-terrorism and criminal justice officers from over 25 countries on updating counter-terrorism legislation and criminal justice practices to mainstream gender, to address sexual and gender-based violence by terrorist groups, and empower women in efforts to address terrorism and prevention violent extremism. Countries assisted include, but are not limited to: Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, DRC, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Nigeria, Niger, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

In Nigeria, where much of this innovative work was piloted, the following concrete results were achieved:

Establishment of a gender desk within the Nigerian Department of Security Services, the main counter-terrorism investigative agency, leading to more gender-sensitive engagement of female terrorism suspects and witnesses, producing concrete evidence to advance terrorism cases.
Establishment of a cadre of trained counter-terrorism officials who are now actively promoting gender considerations in their work, including in identifying cases where sexual and gender-based violence committed by Boko Haram could be charged.

Building on this success, UNODC has recently focused on promoting south-south cooperation by utilizing UNODC-trained Nigerian experts to share their knowledge and experiences, UNODC has provided Nigerian-led trainings to Cameroon, Chad, Mozambique, Niger, and Sri Lanka.

Research

Strengthening the Capacity of Women Professionals Working in the Counter-Terrorism Sector in Iraq

It is estimated that 63% of Yazidi community members who escaped or were rescued from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) since 2014 in Iraq were women and girls. Yet, women remain vastly underrepresented in the criminal justice and law enforcement institutions in Iraq.

Strengthening the participation of women is essential to ensure non-discriminatory and representative institutions capable of responding effectively to their diverse needs. Additionally, institutional operational effectiveness is improved when women’s perspectives are considered when designing strategies for preventing and countering terrorism.

Recognising the different ways that women professionals are involved, in and impacted by, counter-terrorism efforts in Iraq, UNODC has been supporting strengthening the capacity of women professionals working in counter-terrorism in Iraq by conducting a research study on women in the criminal justice system.

This study provides a first-of-its-kind overview of the current representation of Iraqi women professionals in counter-terrorism institutions. It sheds light on the efforts needed to:

further mainstream gender dimensions in Iraqi criminal justice and law enforcement institutions, and
build further awareness and capacity to address gender dimensions in counter-terrorism responses.

Mandate

In 2023, the United Nations General Assembly reconfirmed UNODC’s mandate “to assist Member States, upon request, in mainstreaming gender perspectives into criminal justice responses to terrorism in order to prevent the recruitment of women and girls as terrorists and to promote the full protection of women and girls from any form of exploitation or violence perpetrated by terrorists, consistent with their obligations under human rights law." (A/RES/78/226)

United Nations

Office on Drugs and Crime