COVID-19 and Violent Extremism: Gender Perspectives

​The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented crisis internationally. Though focus is often placed on government response, the pandemic has also allowed for violent extremist groups to both leverage and capitalise off the effects of COVID-19 which impacts both women and men differently. We have seen such organisations respond to the virus by ramping up online propaganda messages, spreading conspiracies and engaging in misinformation campaigns in an attempt to foster perceptions of inefficiency and mistrust in government. In some countries, non-state armed groups have adopted state-like functions by providing social welfare services and enforcing lockdowns vis-à-vis the state.