Green houses for terrorism: measuring the impact of gender equality attitudes and outcomes as deterrents of terrorism

Recent research suggests that there are links between terrorism and gender inequality. This study is a cross-national times series estimation for 57 countries for the period 1994–2002 to examine the impact of attitudes and actual outcomes of gender equality on levels of terrorism experienced by a country using World Values Survey and Global Terrorism Database. The results suggest that actual outcomes of gender equality have a significant and consistently negative impact on terrorism. Women’s actual advancement and equality in higher education, jobs and political representation are more effective in reducing terrorism than cultural attitudes supporting these rights. Additionally, comparing attitudes and outcomes of gender equality in a country, I find there is a gap between the two. This study has important public policy implications for focusing on greater levels of social, economic, and political gender equality for reducing the levels of terrorism.