The Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe held a technical expert meeting on strategies to counter violent extremism, radicalization and terrorism in Hofburg, Vienna in November 2016. Policymakers, law enforcement officials, government advisors, technical experts, and civil society representatives gathered to discuss technical and policy responses to VERLT.
OSF Director, Sahana Dharmapuri moderated and spoke on the panel, Good Practices and Lessons Learnt for Training Security and Law Enforcement Personnel on Gender Mainstreaming along with Ambassador Maria Schurman, NATO Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, Finnish Ambassador for Gender Equality, Anne Lammila, Daniel De Torres, Deputy Head, Operations, Gender and Security Programme at the Geneva Center for the Democratic Republic of the Armed Forces, and Allison Peters, Senior Policy Advisor at Inclusive Security. The roles of women in violent extremism have gained increasing attention over the past years. With women becoming more visible and outspoken, both for and against violent extremist groups, there is an increased need for gender-sensitive responses to countering VERLT. Yet, international responses have been slow to recognize the potential for women to effectively counter VERLT. This panel highlighted case studies from Pakistan, Finland, and the NATO experience, and included a discussion of the challenges of engaging male leaders in the security sector to promote the Women, Peace and Security agenda in VERLT programming.
