Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-26T20:27:19.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Strange Bedfellows: Interrogating the Unintended Consequences of Integrating Countering Violent Extremism with the UN's Women, Peace, and Security Agenda in Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2020

Sahla Aroussi Open the ORCID record for Sahla Aroussi [Opens in a new window]
Sahla Aroussi*
Affiliation:
Coventry University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In October 2015, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2242 calling on member states to work toward the greater integration of the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda with efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremism. While the rapprochement between counterterrorism and WPS may appear to be a step forward, particularly for those seeking to increase women's participation in areas traditionally dominated by men, it is also potentially dangerous. This article makes a significant contribution to the larger debate on the WPS agenda by studying the impact and unintended consequences of linking WPS with countering violent extremism on the ground in Kenya. Based on original research in the field, including key informant interviews, I argue that in the Kenyan context, connecting WPS with violent extremism has had several damaging consequences for women and their communities. Far from advancing the WPS agenda, this new policy shift has caused tension between local and international priorities, precipitated the redirection of donor funding away from important gender initiatives and toward countering violent extremism, and resulted in women's additional stigmatization, insecurity, and exclusion.

Keywords

Womenpeace, and securitygenderviolent extremismKenyaAl-Shabaab
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 665 - 695
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This research was funded by a Coventry University Research Innovation Award 2017/2018. I would like to thank my research assistant Lucy Kiarie for her support in organizing and conducting the research in Kenya and all the participants who generously gave their time to take part in the research. I also would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers and the journal editors for their constructive feedback, patience, and support during the reviewing of this article.

References

REFERENCES

Alison, Miranda. 2009. Women and Political Violence: Female Combatants in Ethno-national Conflict. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Allan, Harriet, Glazzard, Andrew, Jesperson, Sasha, Reddy-Tumu, Sneha, and Winterbotham, Emily. 2015. Drivers of Violent Extremism: Hypotheses and Literature Review. London: Ruisi.Google Scholar
Anderson, David M., and McKnight, Jacob. 2014. “Kenya at War: Al-Shabaab and Its Enemies.” Eastern Africa African Affairs 114 (454): 1–27.Google Scholar
Arab Women Organization (AWO) and Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED). 2016. “Exploring the Relationship between Gender-Based Violence and Radicalization in Jordan.” https://haqqi.info/en/haqqi/research/exploring-relationship-between-gender-based-violence-and-radicalization-jordan (accessed February 12, 2019).Google Scholar
Aroussi, Sahla. 2015. Women Peace and Security. Cambridge: Intersentia.Google Scholar
Aroussi, Sahla. 2017. “Women, Peace, and Security and the DRC: Time to Rethink Sexual Violence as Gender-Based Harm?” Politics & Gender 13 (3): 488–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aslam, Maleeha. 2012. Gender Based Explosions: The Nexus between Muslim Masculinities, Jihadist Islamism and Terrorism. New York: United Nations University Press.Google Scholar
Barkan, Joel D. 2013. “Electoral Violence in Kenya.” Contingency Planning Memorandum 17, Council on Foreign Relations, January 9. https://www.cfr.org/report/electoral-violence-kenya (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Basu, Soumita. 2013. “Emancipatory Potential in Feminist Security Studies.” International Studies Perspectives 14 (4): 455–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloom, Maya. 2011. Bombshell: Women and Terrorism. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Caprioli, Mary. 2000. “Gendered Conflict.” Journal of Peace Research 37 (1): 51–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castillo Díaz, Pablo, and Valji, Nahla. 2019. “Symbiosis of Misogyny and Violent Extremism.” Journal of International Affairs 72 (2): 37–56.Google Scholar
Cetorelli, Valeria, Sasson, Isaac, Shabila, Nazar, and Burnham, Gilbert. 2017. “Mortality and Kidnapping Estimates for the Yazidi Population in the Area of Mount Sinjar.” PLOS Medicine 14 (5): e1002297.Google ScholarPubMed
Charlesworth, Hilary, and Chinkin, Christine. 2006. “Building Women into Peace: The International Legal Framework.” Third World Quarterly 27 (5): s–57.Google Scholar
Cockburn, Cynthia. 1998. The Space between Us: Negotiating Gender and National Identities in Conflict. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Cockburn, Cynthia. 2004. “The Continuum of Violence.” In Sites of Violence: Gender and Conflict Zones, eds. Giles, Wenona and Hyndman, Jennifer. Berkeley: University of California Press, 24–44.Google Scholar
Cockburn, Cynthia. 2007. From Where We Stand: War, Women’s Activism and Feminist Analysis. London: Zed Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohn, Carol. 2008. “Mainstreaming Gender in UN Security Policy: A Path to Political Transformation?” In Global Governance: Feminist Perspectives, eds. Rai, Shirin and Waylen, Georgina. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 185–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. 2011. “Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: Kenya.” CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/7. April 5. https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/co/CEDAW-C-KEN-CO-7.pdf (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Dahir, Abdi Latif. 2018. “The Alt-Right Is Mad about a $600,000 Trump Program in Kenya Linking Violent Extremism to Masculinity.” Quartz Africa, January 23. https://qz.com/africa/1186457/trump-state-dept-spends-600000-on-kenya-masculinity-extremism-project/ (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Donais, Timothy. 2009. “Empowerment or Imposition? Dilemmas of Local Ownership in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding Processes.” Peace and Change 34 (1): 3–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duriesmith, David, Ryan, Luisa, and Zimmerman, Shannon. 2018. “Misogyny as Violent Extremism.” Australian Institute for International Affairs, November 7. http://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/misogyny-as-violent-extremism/ (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Eisenstein, Zillah. 2007. Sexual Decoys: Gender, Race and War in Imperial Democracy. London: Zed Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enloe, Cynthia. 1990. Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Enloe, Cynthia. 1993. The Morning After: Sexual Politics at the End of the Cold War. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Enloe, Cynthia. 2010. Nimo’s War, Emma’s War: Making Feminist Sense of the Iraq War. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eriksson Baaz, Maria, and Stern, Maria. 2013. Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War? Perceptions, Prescriptions, Problems in the Congo and Beyond. London: Zed Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, Judith. 2018. “Women, Conflict and Peace: Learning from Kismayo.” Life and Peace Institute, Peace Direct Somali Women Solidarity Organization, April. https://www.peacedirect.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Kismayo_Report_WEB2-April-2018.pdf (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Government of Kenya. 2016a. “National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.” http://peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/Kenya%20NAP-with-cover-final.pdf (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Government of Kenya. 2016b. “National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism.” Hard copy with the author.Google Scholar
Harrington, Elizabeth. 2018. “State Department Spending $592,500 to Explore Gender Identities of Boys and Men in Kenya.” Fox News, January 22. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/state-department-spending-592500-to-explore-gender-identities-of-boys-and-men-in-kenya (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Heathcote, Gina. 2018. “Security Council Resolution 2242 on Women, Peace and Security: Progressive Gains or Dangerous Development?” Global Society 32 (4): 374–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, Nicola. 2014. “The Fixation on Wartime Rape: Feminist Critique and International Criminal Law.” Social & Legal Studies 23 (1): 93–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HM Treasury and Department for International Development. 2015. “UK Aid: Tackling Global Challenges in the National Interest.” Cm9163. November. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/478834/ODA_strategy_final_web_0905.pdf (accessed March 30, 2020).Google Scholar
Hoewer, Melanie. 2013. “UN Resolution 1325 in Ireland: Limitations and Opportunities of the International Framework on Women, Peace and Security.” Irish Political Studies 28 (3): 450–68.Google Scholar
Jansson, Maria and Eduards, Maud. 2016. “The Politics of Gender in the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 18 (4): 590–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanyinga, Karuti. 2009. “The Legacy of the White Highlands: Land Rights, Ethnicity and the Post-2007 Election Violence in Kenya.” Journal of Contemporary African Studies 27 (3): 325–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, Kimanthi. 2018. “UK Reaffirms Commitment to Fight Terrorism in Kenya, Somalia.” Daily Nation (Kenya), August 31. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/UK-steps-up-military-aid--Kenya/1056-4737284-cd86mk/index.html (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Kiman, Njeri. 2016. “Kenyans Fear Re-emergence of the Banned Mungiki Sect and Its Deadly Reign of Terror.” Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg, South Africa), July 14. https://mg.co.za/article/2016-07-14-00-kenyans-fear-re-emergence-of-the-banned-mungiki-sect-and-its-deadly-reign-of-terror (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Lind, Jeremy, Mutahi, Patrick, and Oosterom, Marjoke. 2017. “‘Killing a Mosquito with a Hammer’: Al-Shabaab Violence and State Security Responses in Kenya.” Peacebuilding 5 (2): 118–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luengo-Cabrera, José, and Pauwels, Annelies. 2016. “Countering Violent Extremism: The Horn of Africa.” Issue Brief 14, European Union Institute for Security Studies. https://www.iss.europa.eu/sites/default/files/EUISSFiles/Brief_14_CVE.pdf (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Mac Ginty, Roger. 2015. “Where Is the Local? Critical Localism and Peacebuilding.” Third World Quarterly 36 (5): 840–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin de Almagro, Maria. 2018. “Producing Participants: Gender, Race, Class, and Women, Peace and Security.” Global Society 32 (4): 395–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLeod, Laura. 2011. “Configurations of Post-Conflict: Impacts of Representations of Conflict and Post-Conflict upon the (Political) Translations of Gender Security within UNSCR 1325.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 13 (4): 594–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meintjes, Sheila, Pillay, Anu, and Turshen, Meredith. 2001. The Aftermath: Women in Post-Conflict Transformation. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Mwangi Kagwanja, Peter. 2003. “Facing Mount Kenya or facing Mecca? The Mungiki Ethnic Violence and the Politics of the Moi Cessation in Kenya 1987–2002.” African Affairs 102 (1): 25–49.Google Scholar
Ndung'u, Irene, Salifu, Uyo, and Sigsworth, Romi. 2017. Violent Extremism in Kenya: Why Women Are a Priority? Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies.Google Scholar
Ngotho, Kamau. 2018. “How JM Kariuki Tried to Escape Death.” Daily Nation (Kenya), March 11. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/JM-Kariuki-was-warned-about-murder-plot/1064-4337728-plyjp8z/index.html (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Ní Aoláin, Fionnuala. 2013. “What Does Post-conflict Security Mean for Women?” In Gender, Violence, and Human Security Critical Feminist Perspectives, eds. Tripp, Aili Mari, Ferree, Myra Marx, and Ewig, Christina. New York: New York University Press, 33–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ní Aoláin, Fionnuala. 2016. “The ‘War on Terror’ and Extremism: Assessing the Relevance of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.” International Affairs 92 (2): 275–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ní Aoláin, Fionnuala, Haynes, Dina Francesca, and Cahn, Naomi. 2012. “Women in the Post-Conflict Process: Reviewing the Impact of Recent UN Actions in Achieving Gender Centrality.” Santa Clara Law Review 11 (1): 189–217.Google Scholar
Nwangwu, Chikodiri, and Ezeibe, Christian. 2019. “Femininity Is Not Inferiority: Women-Led Civil Society Organizations and Countering Violent Extremism in Nigeria.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 21 (2): 168–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 2017. “Aid Data by Recipient.” https://public.tableau.com/views/OECDDACAidataglancebyrecipient_new/Recipients?:embed=y&:display_count=yes&:showTabs=y&:toolbar=no?&:showVizHome=no (accessed February 12, 2019).Google Scholar
Otto, Dianne. 2006. “A Sign of ‘Weakness’? Disrupting Gender Certainties in the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325.” Michigan Journal of Gender and Law 13 (1): 113–75.Google Scholar
Peterson, V. Spike. 1992. “Security and Sovereign States: What is at Stake in Taking Feminism Seriously?” In Gendered States: (Re)Visions of Feminist International Relations Theory, ed. Peterson, V. Spike. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 31–64.Google Scholar
Pratt, Nicola. 2013. “Re-conceptualizing Gender and Re-inscribing Racial–Sexual Boundaries in International Security: The Case of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on ‘Women, Peace and Security.’” International Studies Quarterly 57 (1): 772–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rye Olsen, Gorm. 2018. “The October 2011 Kenyan Invasion of Somalia: Fighting Al-Shabaab or Defending Institutional Interests?” Journal of Contemporary African Studies 36 (1): 39–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schomerus, Mareike, Taraboulsi-McCarthy, Sherine El, and Sandhar, Jassi. 2017. “Countering Violent Extremism: Topic Guide.” GSDRC, March. https://gsdrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CVE.pdf (accessed March 30, 2020).Google Scholar
Sevenzo, Farai, Karimi, Faith, and Smith-Spark, Laura. 2019. “At Least 21 Killed as Kenya Hotel Siege.” CNN, January 17. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/16/africa/kenya-hotel-complex-terror-attack/index.html (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Shackel, Rita, and Fiske, Lucy. 2016. “Making Transitional Justice Work for Women: Kenya Country Report.” University of Sydney. https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/71660/1/Shackel_Fiske_2016_Justice_for_women_Kenya_Full.pdf (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Shepherd, Laura. 2008. Gender, Violence and Security. London: Zed Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepherd, Laura. 2016. “Making War Safe for Women? National Action Plans and the Militarisation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.” International Political Science Review 37 (3): 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sjoberg, Laura. 2011. “Looking Forward, Conceptualizing Feminist Security Studies.” Politics & Gender 7 (4): 600–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swart, Elizabeth. 2012. “Doing Survival: Strategies for Coping with Gender-Based Violence in Kenya's Kibera Slum.” Journal of Women and Social Work 28 (1): 40–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Kylie, Masinjila, Masheti, and Bere, Eunice. 2013. “Political Transition and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.” Gender & Development 21 (3): 519–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tickner, Ann J. 1992. Gender in International Relations: Feminist Perspectives on Achieving Global Security. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Tickner, Ann J. 1997. “You Just Don't Understand: Troubled Engagements between Feminists and IR Theorists.” International Studies Quarterly 41 (4): 611–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torbjörnsson, Daniel. 2017. “Explaining the Differences in al-Shabaab Expansion into Ethiopia and Kenya.” Studies in African Security, Swedish Defence Research Agency. https://www.foi.se/download/18.7fd35d7f166c56ebe0bb3b4/1542369060378/Explaining-the-differences-in_al-Shabaab-expansion-into-Ethiopia-and-Kenya_FOI-Memo-6061.pdf (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
Ucko, David H. 2018. “Preventing Violent Extremism through the United Nations: The Rise and Fall of a Good Idea.” International Affairs 94 (2): 261–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations General Assembly. 2015. “Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism: Report of the Secretary General.” December 24. http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/70/674 (accessed February 12, 2019).Google Scholar
United Nations Security Council. 2015. “Women, Peace, and Security.” S/PV.7533. October 13. https://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/PV.7533 (accessed February 12, 2019).Google Scholar
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms While Countering Terrorism. 2018. “Preliminary Findings of the Visit to Belgium.” May 31. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23164&LangID=E (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar
University of Uppsala Conflict Database Programme. 2017. “Conflict Fatalities.” https://www.ucdp.uu.se/#/onesided/1071 (accessed February 12, 2019).Google Scholar
UN Women. 2018. “Global Database on Violence against Women.” http://evaw-global-database.unwomen.org/fr/countries/africa/kenya?formofviolence=fac5fe48636e4d3882bbd2ebbf29bd60 (accessed February 12, 2019).Google Scholar
Villa-Vicencio, Charles, Buchanan-Clarke, Stephen, and Humphrey, Alex. 2016. Community Perceptions of Violent Extremism in Kenya. Cape Town: Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.Google Scholar
Wibben, Annick T. R. 2011. Feminist Security Studies: A Narrative Approach. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Williams, Paul D. 2014. “After Westgate: Opportunities and Challenges in the War against Al-Shabaab.” International Affairs 90 (4): 907–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar