Gender and Resistance to Violent Extremism: Untold Stories of Everyday Resistance to Violent Extremism in Kenya

Within existing literature, narratives about violent extremism tend to focus on victimisation, radicalisation and violence. Although stories of resistance to violent extremism are rarely heard, within communities living with the threat of violent extremism, men and women alike are engaged in a process of everyday resistance. This project explores how men and women at grassroots and community levels in Kenya resist violent extremism in their everyday lives. The project uses a gender and intersectionality lens and co-creative and arts-based methods to explore how violent extremism is resisted at a local community level. The project is a collaboration between academics, NGOs and artists. Using a gender perspective, it aims to give voice to silenced narratives on how communities resist in their everyday struggle against violent extremism and what they do.

Principal Investigator: Dr Sahla Aroussi, University of Leeds