I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1653 
To ensure that the United States recognizes women’s varied roles in all 
aspects of violent extremism and terrorism and promotes their meaningful 
participation as full partners in all efforts to prevent and counter violent 
extremism and terrorism, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 8, 2019 
Ms. FRANKEL (for herself, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. KEATING, Mr. WILSON of South 
Carolina, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. ZELDIN, Ms. MENG, Ms. HOULAHAN, 
Mr. COHEN, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To ensure that the United States recognizes women’s varied 
roles in all aspects of violent extremism and terrorism 
and promotes their meaningful participation as full part-
ners in all efforts to prevent and counter violent extre-
mism and terrorism, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Women and Coun-
tering Violent Extremism Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Women play diverse roles in violent extrem-
ist organizations, including as victims, perpetrators, 
and preventers. 
(2) Extremist groups benefit strategically and 
financially from the subjugation of women. Terrorist 
groups violate the rights of women and girls, from 
sexual enslavement and forced marriages to limiting 
their access to education and public life. Violent ex-
tremist groups have used women and girls as re-
wards for new recruits and as part of their recruit-
ment efforts. According to the 2016 U.S. State De-
partment’s Country Reports on Terrorism, ‘‘In 2015 
and 2016, ISIS abducted, systematically raped, and 
abused thousands of women and children [in Iraq 
and Syria], some as young as eight years of age. 
Women and children were sold and enslaved, distrib-
uted to ISIS fighters as spoils of war, forced into 
marriage and domestic servitude, or subjected to 
physical and sexual abuse.’’. In northern Nigeria, 
Boko Haram has kidnapped and subjected thou-
sands of women and girls to physical abuse, forced 
labor, forced marriage and sexual abuse. 
(3) As perpetrators of violent extremism and 
terrorism, women adopt all roles, including as in-
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formants, facilitators, recruiters, and suicide bomb-
ers. Empowering women may diminish their support 
for violent extremist organizations by increasing 
their sense of agency. 
(4) Seeing women as partners empowers them 
to detect early signs of radicalization, intervening 
before individuals become violent and delegitimizing 
violent extremist narratives. Analysis by the Council 
on Foreign Relations concluded that, ‘‘Anti-ter-
rorism messages are disseminated quite effectively 
throughout families and communities by women, who 
can challenge extremist narratives in homes, schools 
and social environments, and have particular influ-
ence among youth populations.’’. 
(5) Extremist groups take strategic advantage 
of the relative absence of women in police and mili-
tary forces. As security officials, women provide dis-
tinct insights, information, and analyses that can be 
mission-critical in keeping the peace. They may have 
access to populations and sites that men do not, al-
lowing them to gather critical intelligence about po-
tential security threats. 
(6) Research has demonstrated a relationship 
between the security of women and the security of 
states. According to a Texas A&M study, less em-
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powerment for women in the household correlates 
with less stability nationwide, measured by political 
instability, lack of freedoms, autocracy, corruption, 
and internal conflict. Countries where women are 
less empowered at the household level are also more 
likely to produce foreign fighters going to territory 
controlled by terrorist organizations. 
(7) Counterterrorism policy has not been as ef-
fective at understanding how women can improve se-
curity efforts. According to the June 2016 U.S. Na-
tional Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, 
‘‘A narrow understanding of women’s roles in CVE 
[countering violent extremism] limits policy options 
and perpetuates strategic blind spots, such as failing 
to recognize women’s agency as potential mitigators 
and perpetrators of violence.’’. 
(8) According to a 2015 United States Agency 
for International Development study of women’s 
participation in violent extremism, there has been ‘‘a 
marked gap in CVE [countering violent extremism] 
programming, which has focused mostly on male 
participation, without a commensurate reflection on 
and response to female-specific drivers and recruit-
ment strategies.’’. 
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