2017 Theses Master's

Violations of women’s rights while countering terrorism as a threat to collective survival: A case-study of the right to participation

Kumskova, Marina

As nations around the world develop and review their strategies to counter terrorism, they are
expected to comply with international human rights law (UNSC, 2015, PP. 9). Policy makers are
also supposed to gain enough public approval to legitimize these strategies (Buzan et al., 1998).
While counter-terrorism measures are often sanctioned by the general audience, women’s right to
participation is rarely viewed as a critical aspect of counter-terrorism by both policy makers and
their audience (Hansen, 2000; Jamal, 2013). Applying a theoretical framework comprised of
Securitization Theory (Buzan et al., 1998; Waever, 1993; Huysmans, 2010) and feminist
contributions (Tickner, 1992; Hansen, 2000; Huckerby, 2016), this study argues that violations of
women’s right to participation in the context of counter-terrorism is not only a human rights
problem but is also an issue of international security. More specifically, this study provides
theoretical and empirical explanations of the ways in which the lack of a women’s rightssensitive
perspective in counter-terrorism discourse creates barriers for developing effective
counter-terrorism strategies and often contributes to the emergence of additional security threats.