ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of existing work on gender, deradicalisation and disengagement. If the literature on gender, terrorism and extremism is limited, this is even more so the case when it comes to studies on gender, deradicalisation and disengagement. Encouraging a critical engagement with the role harmful masculinities and femininities play both prior to joining and within many violent and/or extremist organisations is particularly important in deradicalisation efforts, which are aimed at a disassociation from extremist beliefs. Despite the lack of comprehensive empirical studies on gender, deradicalisation and disengagement, it is possible to identify a number of potential pitfalls and ways to avoid them. Deradicalisation and disengagement programmes that aim at effectively reaching and engaging both men and women must thus take into account that victimhood and perpetration are more complex than widespread gender stereotypes may suggest. Gendered approaches to deradicalisation and disengagement are needed for several reasons.
