This report reviews academic and practitioner publications to answer ‘What do masculinities have to do with violent extremism?’ It finds that taking a multi-layered ecological approach which seeks to understand the motivations for violent extremists shifts the narrative around violent extremism to include a gendered understanding of why some men engage. Using a multi-layered ecological model, the report assesses men’s and boy’s identities at the individual, family, community and structural levels. It further provides recommendations for future research, programming and policy, emphasizing that there must be an acknowledgement that harmful gender norms, particularly those related to manhood, play a role in men and boy’s vulnerability to violent extremism.
2020