Violent extremism has been growing in Tajikistan, together with women’s engagement with it. It poses
a threat to security and stability, and threatens to undermine the progress towards peace that the
country has made since the Civil War which ended in 1997. Trends are most evident in urban and semiurban areas located at major crossroads, from where men and women have been traveling since 2011 to
join terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq. The general perception in Tajikistan is that the women who have joined violent extremism movements are passive participants and victims, who followed their husbands or family members unconditionally to the Middle East. However, some women are apparently active agents who willingly chose to travel and embrace violent extremism. Other women are preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) and should be further supported.