The securitisation of human rights

Katherine E. Brown

Chapter 33 in Handbook on Gender in World Politics, 2026, pp 217-223 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Securitisation of human rights involves a number of interlocking gendered processes. First, human rights have become the ‘benchmark’ of security and insecurity. Within this, women's rights are the ‘go-to’ metric applied to the ‘suspect-terrorist’ because these represent the presumed greatest visible difference between ‘the West’ and ‘the Rest’. Second, to that end there is a strategic instrumentalisation of women's rights in the service of ‘security’. Third, state attempts to become secure undermine the human rights of citizens in a gendered and racialised manner – this is referred to as a ‘protection racket’. All three elements can be observed in the cases discussed: the securitisation and (de)securitisation of Afghan women's rights, the Birmingham schools’ scandal and Shamima Begum's citizenship revocation.

Keywords: Securitisation; Women's Rights; Counterterrorism; Islamophobia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781803923765
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