Using discourse analysis, the authors examine how gender roles and identities are represented in discussions of counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism (CT/CVE) across 38 National Action Plans implementing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. The article finds that these plans frequently position women in passive or subordinate roles while framing men as inherently violent or prone to extremism. These representational patterns, they argue, reinforce gender stereotypes and limit the transformative potential of the WPS agenda. The analysis has implications for both WPS scholarship and policy practice, particularly regarding efforts to integrate gender-sensitive and agency-focused approaches into CT/CVE frameworks.
2020