“Fundamentalist, Mentally Unstable, Male”: A Gendered Analysis of Fear of Terrorism and Crime in Canada

Abstract

Despite the infrequent nature of terrorism in Canada, multiple high-profile extremist incidents have specifically targeted women including the 2018 Toronto van attack. Using a mixed-methods approach informed by constructivist grounded theory, we examine fear and perception of victimization risk of terrorism in Canada in 262 individuals from a gendered perspective, contrasting it with similar measures for crime, finding that women both significantly fear and perceive a higher likelihood of terrorist victimization than men. An examination of cognitive schemas of terrorism revealed divergent patterns by gender, demonstrating that women were also significantly less likely to associate mental illness with terrorism.