As communities continue to push back against anti-democratic measures and group-targeted violence, it is more critical than ever to understand the narratives and policies driving and seeking to justify these rollbacks. While democratic erosion takes many forms, one often overlooked, if not altogether dismissed, dimension is how gender is weaponized to justify and build a permission structure for authoritarian practices and even violence. Across the world, gender is central to authoritarian populists’ efforts to generate public support, justify power expansion, and enact discriminatory actions that threaten everyone’s rights and freedoms. This often happens under the pretext of concerns around traditional and family values, gendered anxieties, and shifting gender norms.
