A Gender Approach to Militancy (Extremism) in Pakistan –A Case Study of North-Western Region

Abstract

The agenda of gender and security in the debate of international relations has much to achieve yet. The notion is based on normative differences of feminism and realism. The former is a flag bearer of feminist agenda of political studies and the latter is a leading International Relations paradigm. There have been many case studies and accounts in which women as victims of conflicts are studied and their plights are analyzed, however, the role of women as ‘security agent’ had hardly been previously touched. The gender inequality worsens the situation in Pakistani society as it promotes radical/extremist tendency which subsequently poses immense security challenges to the social fabric. Due to lack of research on this particular issue, the study has been opted for further exploration. Pakistan being at the forefront in the war against terror since its onset in 2001, has predominantly a military based security agenda. However, the country with 52% of female population, makes it an appropriate case study to understand security and gender. This paper pertains to some conflict hit areas of Pakistan where women role has been analyzed as security agent. This paper is an attempt to explore and analyses the theoretical and academic debate of gender and security with particular reference to North-Western Pakistan.