Misogynist terrorism
Misogynist terrorism is terrorism that is motivated by the desire to punish women. It is an extreme form of misogyny—the policing of women's compliance to patriarchal gender expectations.[1] Misogynist terrorism uses mass indiscriminate violence in an attempt to avenge nonconformity with those expectations or to reinforce the perceived superiority of men.
Since 2018, misogynist or male supremacist ideology has been listed and tracked by counter-terrorist organizations as an emerging terrorist threat. The terms male supremacist terrorism and misogynistic extremism are also used for these acts of violence.
Misogynist terrorism often targets representatives or stand-ins for a type of person that the terrorist feels anger toward. For instance, some have been motivated by a perception of entitlement to sex with women of a type the perpetrator sees as attractive. These attacks, some arising from the incel subculture, have targeted both women and men seen as sexually successful.
Recognition[edit]
According to the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) at the Hague, counter-terrorism experts were slow to recognize misogyny as an animating ideology for acts of mass violence in comparison to recognition of other ideologies. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) have tracked misogyny or male supremacy as a motivation for terrorism since 2018, describing it as a "rising threat."[2]
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation considers misogynist violence among the fastest-growing terrorism threats of 2021.[3] A guidebook for law enforcement by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe notes that strict and systematic control of gender roles is used as a recruitment tool both by ISIL/Daesh and by western misogynist extremists among the incel and men's rights movements. Both groups portray men as hyper-masculine warriors and women variously as passive caretakers, sources of sexual gratification, and "the enemy" who must be punished.[4]
The 1989 École Polytechnique massacre is recognized as the first documented mass killing explicitly motivated by antifeminist resentment. The shooter, who killed 14 women and injured 10, stated that his motivations were "political" and that he intended to "fight feminism."[5]
Misogynist ideology is often not mentioned in reports of terrorist attacks, even when attackers explicitly state it.[6]