This paper examines the challenges of meaningfully integrating gender into preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) programming, with a particular focus on how gender is conceptualised and operationalised at the programme level. Drawing on an in-depth case study of the STRIVE Horn of Africa programme, it demonstrates how approaches that narrowly frame gender as women’s empowerment - especially in challenging cultural contexts - often fail to produce transformative or sustainable outcomes for women’s participation in peace and security processes. Instead, the paper argues for addressing gender inequality itself as a structural driver of violent extremism.
The paper begins by outlining key conceptual foundations relevant to gender-responsive P/CVE, including definitions of P/CVE, gender, gender equality, gender mainstreaming, gender responsiveness, gender roles, and gender essentialism. Through analysis of programme documentation, evaluations, and practitioner perspectives, the STRIVE Horn of Africa case study illustrates how essentialist assumptions about women’s roles, gender-blind programme design, and institutional constraints shape implementation outcomes across all P/CVE initiatives - not only those explicitly targeting women.
The analysis highlights how socially constructed masculinities and femininities influence both pathways into violent extremism and the effectiveness of P/CVE interventions, while also revealing the limitations imposed by short programming cycles, limited resources, and resistance to challenging entrenched gender norms. The paper concludes by identifying key gaps in current P/CVE practice - particularly the conflation of women’s inclusion with gender analysis - and offers concrete recommendations for integrating gender equality more meaningfully into the design, implementation, and evaluation of P/CVE programming as a core element of terrorism prevention.