Gendered Security Harms: State Policy and the Counterinsurgency Against Boko Haram

abstract:Scholars have critiqued the incorporation of gender into counterterrorism and countering violent extremism programs, noting they have instrumentalized the Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda toward state-centric goals and essentialized the women (and men) they encounter. Furthermore, as Huckerby has outlined, the explicit inclusion of gender in security policy can produce specific gendered security harms: coercive and noncoercive practices, securitization of women's rights, and lack of attention to the gendered effects of seemingly genderneutral policy. This article engages Huckerby's work to explore the gendered security harms produced in Nigeria's counterinsurgency against "Boko Haram." It suggests first that a simplistic approach to 'women', rather than gendered power relations, leaves Nigeria ill-equipped to respond to the complex gendered dynamics of jihadist actors in the Northeast. Second, a neglect of human rights and the role of state actors in abuses actively enables gendered security harms. The article concludes that Nigeria is therefore still failing to protect women.