专家:妇女在打击极端主义方面的能力被低估

Experts: Women Are Unused Resource in Fighting Extremism

The role of women and their possible help in fighting extremism is often ignored and underestimated, a group of experts told United States lawmakers recently.

Studies have shown that women can effectively communicate antiterrorism messages throughout families and communities, said Jamille Bigio. She noted² that women can bring these messages to homes, schools and other social environments.

Bigio is a senior fellow for women and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. She spoke³ at a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing on the role of women in fighting terrorism around the world.

“Traditional efforts by governments and nongovernmental organizations to fight radicalization rarely include women,” she told the hearing.

Bigio met last week with members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs' subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. They called the meeting to discuss ways of overcoming what some lawmakers called a “strategic blind spot” in the efforts to stop extremism and terrorism.

Antiterrorism efforts have not given enough thought to the idea that women represent a resource in the fight against extremism, said Congressman⁴ Ted¹ Poe, chairman of the subcommittee. Poe added that women are in a strong position to “challenge extremist narratives⁵ in homes, schools and societies the world over.”

Sense of belonging

Haras Rafiq leads Quilliam International, a London-based research group that studies extremism around the world. He told lawmakers that the failure of communities to develop a shared sense of belonging is a major cause of the growth of extremism.

Rafiq said that a failure to teach democratic values also adds to the problem. “Challenging extremism is the duty of all responsible members” of communities, he added.

Another speaker was Valerie Hudson of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. She told the lawmakers that researchers have looked into several issues that have stopped women from acting⁷ to stop extremism and radicalization.

Hudson blamed rules governing property rights, marriage and other laws that prevent women from getting the resources needed to stop radicalization in the family.

“She doesn’t have the say within her house,” Hudson said.

She added those issues make women less effective in terms of stopping their sons and, sometimes their daughters, from becoming terrorists.

Economic possibilities

Another speaker at the hearing, Farhat Popal, is an official with the Women’s Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute. She noted that education and economic opportunities for women are important to stopping violent extremism.

“Education and economic opportunities are two ways that we can work towards…development in Afghanistan,” said Popal.

Her organization follows women’s rights in many countries, including Afghanistan. She added that those opportunities will help stop extremism because it will build communities that have trust and inclusion.

Bigio, of the Council on Foreign Relations, said there is a strong need to bring women into the fight against extremism.

The Trump⁸ administration is “developing a new national counterterrorism strategy and a new national strategy in countering violent extremist groups,” Bigio said, adding these should include women.

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

role – n. a duty or part performed, especially as part of a process

senior fellow – n. a teaching position at a research center or university

radicalization – n. the process of becoming different or new from the traditional

strategic - adj. relating to a general plan that is created to achieve a goal in war, politics

resource – n. a supply of something; a thing that proves useful

challenge – v. to question the action or authority of

narrative⁶ - n. a story that is told in full detail

opportunity – n. a situation in which something can be done

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

5 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

6 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。