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2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) and the establishment of the Counter-Terrorism Committee. As part of the year of commemoration, CTED experts reflect on their work.

Ms. Krisztina Huszti-Orban is a Legal Officer and the CTED Gender Coordinator. This interview has been edited for brevity.

What motivated you to come to the United Nations and to CTED?

Ms. Huszti-Orban: I’ve worked at the intersection of security policies, human rights, and international humanitarian law for over a decade. During that time, I’ve worked with a number of different stakeholders, from regional organizations, to NGOs, to think tanks, and academia. Before I joined CTED, I worked with various 缅北禁地mechanisms, including OHCHR and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. What drew me to work with the United Nations was the opportunity to contribute to the promotion of international law standards and, in particular, to the promotion of international human rights law, through engagement with a diversity of relevant stakeholders (especially Member States but also civil society, the private sector, academia, communities, and so on). And now that I’m at CTED, I have the chance to help ensure that Member States implement the requirements of the relevant Council resolutions in a way that complies with international law and is also gender sensitive.

What does it mean to include a gender perspective in countering terrorism and violent extremism? And why has the Security Council included it in its resolutions?

Ms. Huszti-Orban: When we talk about incorporating the gender perspective into countering terrorism and violent extremism, it is understood that this requires due consideration of the differential impact of terrorism, counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism on persons of different genders. And this differential impact that we are seeing is in part a consequence of the fact that we live in societies that have not achieved gender equality. No 缅北禁地Member State has yet achieved full gender equality. At the same time, what we do see with many terrorists and violent extremist groups is that they exhibit quite a rigidly gendered ideological structure. And they tend to promote narrow gendered roles both for men and for women. This will frequently include enforcing very strict rules on women's conduct. They may institute a number of discriminatory and even abusive practices against women. This philosophy is frequently manifested in the instrumental use of women and girls (who are presented as inferior and as subservient). In the eyes of the group, this legitimizes and even glorifies their exploitation through sexual slavery, forced marriages, and practices such as using women to detonate bombs. Men, on the other hand, are usually cast in hyper-masculine roles, with the expectation (or normalization of the idea) that men will be violent; that male violence is the norm. And this rigid approach to gender norms also means that anything that is perceived as deviating from those norms may trigger violence. This has been demonstrated through the targeting and persecution of LGBTI+ and gender-nonconforming persons by groups such as ISIL and other violent extremist groups. These tactics and views are also distilled into terrorist propaganda and messaging, including for the purposes of recruitment, which frequently makes use of, and builds on, harmful gender stereotypes. 

So, this means that integrating gender in the counter-terrorism and CVE context requires understanding and addressing the differing roles that persons of different genders (in particular, in this context, women) play in these organizations. It also means not basing policy and other responses on stereotype-driven assumptions. This is very important because women have frequently been victims of terrorist groups as victims of serious human rights abuses and violations, including sexual and gender-based violence, sexual slavery, forced marriages, forced prostitution, and so on. But women have also been perpetrators and facilitators of terrorism. Frequently, women will be both. An effective counter-terrorism response must therefore address those roles in all their complexities. For this reason, integrating gender and relevant responses also means that policymakers must be mindful, in developing and implementing related tools and measures, to ensure that those tools and measures not only do not use gender stereotypes but also challenge those stereotypes (especially discriminatory stereotypes concerning the roles and responsibilities of women and men in society). Such stereotypes tend to overemphasize women's roles as mothers, wives, sisters, and caregivers and to do so at the expense of promoting women's autonomy, leadership potential, educational and professional opportunities, and so on. At the same time, one additional issue that I consider very important is that even counter-terrorism measures that appear to be gender neutral on the surface are not necessarily gender neutral in their interpretation or their impact. These various points constitute the cumulative background against which the Security Council thought it important to address the gender dimension of counter-terrorism measures and the gender dimension of counter-terrorism contexts. This process began as early as 2013, when the Council first explicitly declared its intention to increase attention to matters relating to women, peace, and security, in all relevant thematic areas in which the Council is active, including in relation to conduct perpetrated by terrorist groups and the threats to peace and security that are caused by terrorist acts.

The need to strengthen the quality of information and analysis on the impact of terrorism on women and girls, in particular, in the context of terrorist conduct perpetrated in an armed conflict, was also brought into the spotlight by the rise of groups such as Boko Haram and ISIL. The Security Council's approach was also certainly influenced by the FTF phenomenon. In 2015, the Council adopted its landmark resolution 2242, in which it explicitly recognized the differential impact of terrorism on the human rights of women and girls, including as they are frequently directly targeted by terrorist groups. The Council also requested the Committee and CTED to integrate gender as a cross-cutting issue into all relevant activities, including country assessments and their thematic work. It further encouraged both the Committee and CTED to hold consultations with women's organizations and asked CTED to conduct gender-sensitive research on trends relating to terrorism and counter-terrorism. 

How have gender-related requirements evolved in Security Council resolutions?

Ms. Huszti-Orban: In addition to its resolution 2242 (2015), the Council has adopted a number of other related resolutions in the context of its work on counter-terrorism and women, peace, and security. Those resolutions have addressed a number of specific areas and requirements that the Council has deemed important with respect to duly integrating the gender dimension into counter-terrorism-related work. One area where the Security Council has explicitly called for the incorporation of the gender dimension and for the need to duly consider the differential impact and the different drivers that may motivate women and men relates to counternarratives: an area in which the Council has flagged the need to address the vulnerabilities of persons of different genders. It has also noted that the development of gender-sensitive and gender-responsive counternarratives greatly benefits from an inclusive approach that includes consultations with a diverse range of stakeholders, including women's organizations. On conflict-related sexual violence, the Council has long expressed concerns about ways in which sexual and gender-based violence is used as a tactic of war and is frequently a consequence of armed conflicts around the world. In recent years, it has also addressed situations where sexual and gender-based violence is committed in armed conflict contexts by members of terrorist groups. It has noted that, in the case of terrorist groups, sexual and gender-based violence is frequently part of the strategic objective of the group, which may be used to drive recruitment. To the extent that there is a link to trafficking in human beings, it may also be connected to financial flows or employed as a tactic to spread terror and control communities. And, with respect to trafficking in persons in particular, the Council has repeatedly requested CTED to include in its country assessments information on ways in which Member States address trafficking in persons in the counter-terrorism context, including when it is related to conflict or post-conflict situations. 

The third issue with respect to which the Council has highlighted the need to take a gender-sensitive approach relates to addressing the situation of women associated with foreign terrorist fighters (in particular women who are returning or relocating from conflict zones). In this respect, the Council highlighted the need for States to develop and implement gender-sensitive prosecution, rehabilitation, and reintegration strategies. It has also called on States to provide the necessary support and assistance to women and children associated with FTFs who are victims of terrorism or victims of human rights violations or abuses. CTED, under the guidance of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, supports Member States in implementing these recommendations and requirements with due consideration for their gender dimension. 

One milestone that we have achieved since 2015, is that the gender-related recommendations that have been advanced pursuant to assessment visits have increased by 500% and in 2019 (which was the most recent year in which it was possible to conduct assessment visits unimpacted by the pandemic), CTED made over 60 gender-related recommendations

What progress has been achieved? And do you think the work that CTED has done to promote inclusion of the gender perspective in countering terrorism and violent extremism has made an impact?

Ms. Huszti-Orban: The developments that I’ve just described have also made a perceptible impact on our engagement with Member States. In recent years, CTED has stepped-up its efforts to integrate gender as a cross-cutting issue into all its activities, including assessments, recommendations, visits conducted on behalf of the Committee, ongoing dialogue with Member States, ad thematic research and analysis in relation to terrorism and counter-terrorism trends. One milestone that we have achieved since 2015, is that the gender-related recommendations that have been advanced pursuant to assessment visits have increased by 500% and in 2019 (which was the most recent year in which it was possible to conduct assessment visits unimpacted by the pandemic), CTED made over 60 gender-related recommendations. 
In our engagement with Member States and other relevant stakeholders, we see increased awareness of the gender dimensions of both terrorism and counter-terrorism and a more thorough understanding of the need for legal and policy frameworks to be conscious of their impact on both men and women, including from a human rights perspective. And that relevant laws and policies are designed and implemented with the aim of ensuring that these measures are tailored and they are evidence-based, which is a precondition for them to be both effective and sustainable. There is also a more thorough appreciation of the importance of gender-sensitive programming and analysis that promotes gender equality in accordance with existing international law, including through the participation and leadership of women in the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of relevant policies and programmes. At the same time, it should be recalled that all of this is very much work in progress. More sustained attention is needed to continue the progress begun over the past couple of years. As a matter of fact, the progress achieved can also make certain gaps and areas in need of improvement a great deal more visible. CTED has also advanced its gender-focused research and analytical work on emerging trends and issues in terrorism and counter-terrorism by producing various publications on the gender dimension of the response to the FTF phenomenon (notably in relation to the return, repatriation, and prosecution of ISIL-associated women). CTED has also issued a Trends Tracker on the 20th anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000) and the fifth anniversary of the adoption of resolution 2242 (2015).

What challenges remain?

Ms. Huszti-Orban: There are quite a few remaining challenges, and it would be very easy to give a lengthy list. But I would like to highlight three issues. First, there is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender equality and the ways in which this impacts counter-terrorism and CVE efforts. The United Nations, international and regional organizations, and a number of other relevant stakeholders have repeatedly expressed concerns that the pandemic has erased progress in tackling gender equality and that its impact has set us back by a generation. This was also highlighted by the Secretary General in his 2021 report on women, peace, and security, which noted that the negative forecasts relating to the impact of the pandemic have largely materialized and flagged the underrepresentation of women in the development and implementation of pandemic responses. These developments may lead (and, in a number of situations have already led) to increased economic and political marginalization of women, including in relation to their participation in public affairs (which in turn increases their vulnerability to exploitation, recruitment, and radicalization to violence). In this context, it is crucial for policymakers, including counter-terrorism bodies, to be very mindful of these implications, including the implication that less equal societies are more likely to suffer sustained violence. And this means that gender inequality not only may be a condition conducive to radicalization to violence in case of women but also facilitates male violence.  

A second challenge is to ensure that more attention is given to the role of masculinities in radicalization to violence. The integration of gender into both counter-terrorism and CVE must also include a focus on the roles of men and the impact of both terrorism and counter-terrorism on men, as well as the role of masculinities. In this context, there is an emerging body of research into the relevance of masculinity for various aspects of terrorism and counter-terrorism. And there is increased recognition that we need to avoid a one-dimensional conception of gender that is synonymous with women. Terrorist groups across the globe and across the ideological spectrum have been shown to be very adept at tapping into the gendered grievances of men, including their feelings of disempowerment, resentment, and marginalization in a variety of different local contexts. So, incorporating the constructions of masculinity into analysis and policies is an essential part of addressing the conditions conducive to radicalization. At the same time, it is also widely acknowledged that counter-terrorism and CVE responses have not been as adept at incorporating tailored gender messages that speak both to women and to men and that also address the role of gender equality in this context. 

And the third challenge relates to the use of technology. It is widely acknowledged and reported that terrorist organizations use technological tools (including the Internet and social media) not only for  recruitment, messaging, and propaganda but also to plan their activities. And, at the same time, technological tools (including biometric tools, PNR, API and so on) are also used in, and are at the forefront of, counter-terrorism responses. The role of technology in this respect has attracted more and more attention in recent years but there has been relatively little focus on the gendered impact of the use of related tools in terrorism and counter-terrorism. And this is definitely an area in which we need further exploration to help develop gender-sensitive and gender-responsive measures to terrorism.