Women, intelligence and countering terrorism (CT) in Indonesia: Where are the women?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores women's roles in Indonesian intelligence services in response to the rising trend of women’s involvement in terrorism in Indonesia. It seeks to understand the extent to which gender dynamics influence women’s roles in CT efforts, including detection, surveillance, analysis, and intelligence gathering. Employing Feminist Security Studies and gendered organisational lens frameworks, the paper analyses women’s experiences in masculinist intelligence institutions. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted in 1979 and The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2242 adopted in 2015 highlight the importance of gender in promoting women’s participation in security sectors, including within the intelligence agencies. Focusing on Indonesia as a case study, this paper conducts a gender analysis to examine how gender and the framing of female bodies construct and affect women’s roles within the Indonesian intelligence agencies as institutions of hegemonic masculinity. Drawing from data obtained through interviews with intelligence agents and experts from 2021 to 2023 in Indonesia, this paper argues that despite women’s crucial roles in CT efforts, they still encounter gender bias, discrimination, stigmatisation, societal gender norms and systemic neglect of their specific needs.