Women, intelligence and countering terrorism (CT) in Indonesia: Where are the women?

ABSTRACT

This article explores women's roles in Indonesian intelligence services in response to the rising trend of women’s involvement in terrorism in Indonesia. It seeks to understand the extent to which gender dynamics influence women’s roles in CT efforts, including detection, surveillance, analysis, and intelligence gathering. Employing Feminist Security Studies and gendered organisational lens frameworks, the paper analyses women’s experiences in masculinist intelligence institutions. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted in 1979 and The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2242 adopted in 2015 highlight the importance of gender in promoting women’s participation in security sectors, including within the intelligence agencies. Focusing on Indonesia as a case study, this paper conducts a gender analysis to examine how gender and the framing of female bodies construct and affect women’s roles within the Indonesian intelligence agencies as institutions of hegemonic masculinity. Drawing from data obtained through interviews with intelligence agents and experts from 2021 to 2023 in Indonesia, this paper argues that despite women’s crucial roles in CT efforts, they still encounter gender bias, discrimination, stigmatisation, societal gender norms and systemic neglect of their specific needs.

KEYWORDS:

• Women
• gender
• counterterrorism (CT)
• intelligence
• Indonesia

Introduction

In 2018, a series of suicide bombings committed by three different families struck Indonesian society, raising not only the attention of the national public but also the international community.¹ However, these bombings, albeit shocking, did not emerge in isolation of one another, nor were they without warning. Before these incidents, Dian Yulia Novi and Ika Puspita Sari had both volunteered to commit suicide bombings in Jakarta and Bali respectively in late 2016 (The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), 2017b). Yet, the 2018 Surabaya bombing marked two crucial points in the history of terrorist acts in Indonesia: the success of women in becoming suicide bombers and the first family suicide terror attack ever conducted in Indonesia (Dass, 2021).

Indonesian women’s engagement in political violence is not new. During the colonisation era in 1908–1945, women were a part of the struggle for independence by fighting side by side with men as well as performing supportive roles (Rohmaniyah, 2020). During the Indonesian struggle for independence, women joined the volunteer troops known as laskar putri (literally translated to ‘female paramilitary soldiers’) and performed battle duties, assisted with supporting roles such as public kitchens, attended to the wounded soldiers and conducted intelligence gathering (Salebaran & Amini, 2022, pp. 2–3).

After independence, post-colonial Indonesia was challenged by the emergence of Darul Islam/Negara Islam Indonesia (DI/NII), an Islamist extremist organisation that aimed to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Indonesia (Solahudin, 2013; The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), 2023c). From 1946 until the 1960s, DI/NII fought against the Indonesian government in West Java, Aceh, and South Sulawesi (Robinson, 2021; Solahudin, 2013). Today, all contemporary jihadist organisations in Indonesia are descendants of DI/NII and have played influential roles in the emergence of groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah (Blackburn, 2008; Jones, 2011) and, later, ISIS-affiliated networks in the country in the mid-2010s (Tan, 2019). While these networks and groups are unique, women remain involved in these three organisations and play pivotal roles in supporting these groups’ activism.

DI/NII have played influential roles in the emergence of groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah in the early 1990s and later, ISIS-affiliated networks. The emergence of ISIS in 2013 attracted over 2000 Indonesian nationals to travel to Syria and Iraq (The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), 2017a) and it has presented a touchstone for the growing support of violent extremist ideology in Indonesia (The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), 2015, 2018, 2019, 2023a). The legacy of radical movements, which has strong roots within jihadist groups in Indonesia, has played a significant role in how ISIS has been successful in attracting female followers (Jadoon, Lodoen, Willis, & Jahanbani, 2020; Resnyansky et al., 2022).

Hwang and Schulze (2018) posit that individuals can join terrorist groups through four main pathways: study sessions, local conflict, kinship (which includes marriage), and schools. Extremist groups, including DI/NII, HTI, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), and ISIS-affiliated groups, predominantly use these pathways to recruit women (Hwang & Schulze, 2018). From here, women affiliated with radical ideologies may be interested in or supported to take their actions further. For the past decade, Indonesian women have been playing active roles in jihadist activism, such as becoming the wives of jihadists, nurturing the next generation of jihadists, conducting terrorist attacks, terrorist financing, facilitating jihadist training camps, recruitment and migrating to ISIS territory (The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), 2017c, 2023b). Since 2002, 68 Indonesian women have been involved in terrorist acts, with five of them killed while committing suicide bombings.²

Despite the increasing involvement of women in jihadist activism in Indonesia, the government’s response still lacks a gender-focused approach. While acknowledging women’s roles in terrorism, the government’s attention remains disproportionately minimal compared to efforts addressing male terrorism. This leads to the lack of gender consideration in counterterrorism (CT) policies and strategies, notably on how women play significant roles in CT efforts within the security sector. In its efforts to enhance its CT strategies, the Indonesian government established Law 5/2018 on Counterterrorism (the revision of the 2003 counterterrorism law) in the aftermath of the 2018 East Java bombings (Haripin, Anindya, & Priamarizki, 2020). Following this, the Indonesian government adopted the National Action Plan (NAP) on Preventing Violent Extremism in 2021. A few months later, Indonesia adopted its second National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) that addresses women’s involvement in radicalism. Prior to these frameworks, the Indonesian government ratified the CEDAW in 1984, forming the basis for Presidential Instructions No.9/2000 on Gender Mainstreaming within the Indonesian bureaucracies (Minister of Law and Human Rights, 2000). These policies showcase an impetus for the government’s commitment to advancing gender equality and enhancing women’s roles within the security sectors responsible for the implementation of CT policies.

Nevertheless, this commitment was challenged by the persistent masculinist culture within the security sectors in Indonesia, particularly in CT sectors. Before the democratisation period in 1998, the Indonesian armed forces controlled most security-related bureaucracies, including the military, police, ministry of defence, intelligence agency, ministry of justice, ministry of home affairs and attorney general (Sukma & Prasetyono, 2003). Despite the ongoing Security Sector Reform (SSR) since the early 2000s, the Indonesian Intelligence Community (IC) responsible for countering terrorist threats still retains its military-oriented characteristics (Sadadi, 2019; Wahyudi & Syauqillah, 2022). The IC comprises agencies such as the Indonesian National Intelligence Body (BIN), National Counter Terrorism Body (BNPT), the Armed Forces’ Strategic Intelligence Body (BAIS), Indonesian National Police’s Detachment 88 (Densus/ 88/INP) and the Coordinating Ministry for Political Legal and Security Affairs (Kemenko Polhukam). Consequently, since militaristic institutions, and the characteristics associated with them, promote the ideological structures of patriarchy, masculinity and militarism (Enloe, 2000; Kennedy-Pipe, 2000), women’s³ roles in Indonesian intelligence sectors remain subordinate.

Women have historically played vital roles in intelligence and espionage. Perhaps the most famous female spy is Mata Hari, depicted as a seductive and beautiful operative capable of gathering secret information from the high-ranking clientele of the Allied forces in France and passing it to the German forces during the First World War (Taylor, 1998). Additionally, throughout World War I and World War II, women adeptly gathered essential secrets by blending into common spaces, listening, observing and becoming parts of surveillance networks (Proctor, 2003; Taylor, 1998). Meanwhile, in the contemporary Global War on Terror, women continue to hold pivotal positions in intelligence gathering as state agents in CT, navigating culturally and religiously sensitive environments (Nwangwu, Onuoha, Ezirim, & Iwuamadi, 2021). In this sense, intelligence gathering refers to the process of collecting, analysing, producing, and utilising information related to potentially hostile states, groups (such as extremist groups), individuals, or activities to enhance national security (Nwangwu et al., 2021). Despite their pivotal contributions, the portrayal of women in intelligence remains constrained by a gendered view, oscillating between sexualised perversions or demonised objects (Proctor, 2003, p. 3). In other words, women in intelligence are frequently subjected to sexualisation and stereotyping, depicted either as enchanted and controlled or as cunning and seductive (Gasztold, 2022).

This article aims to address the roles of women in Indonesian intelligence services’ efforts in CT, focusing on the inequalities, discrimination and structural exclusion that women experience within these security institutions. Employing a gender analysis, this article explores how gender dynamics within a patriarchal society and masculinist institutions shape individuals’ behaviours and perceptions within the intelligence sectors, resulting in a lack of willingness to move towards gender equality. Drawing from the framework of Feminist Security Studies, a gender analysis is conducted, focusing on how gender and the reframing of female bodies influence women’s roles within Indonesian intelligence agencies as institutions of hegemonic masculinity. Notably, women's roles in the intelligence sector have received limited attention, evident by the dearth of knowledge and absence of literature on their contributions to CT efforts in Indonesia. Therefore, this article seeks to bridge this gap in the existing literature.

The data used in this analysis were obtained through an extensive desk review of relevant literature, complemented by information collected during my doctoral fieldwork conducted from 2021 to 2023 in Indonesia. Primary data was gathered through interviews with informants currently employed as intelligence agents in security sectors with intelligence departments focused on CT. These sectors include the Ministry of Defence (Participant 1), the National Counter Terrorism Agency or BNPT (Participant 4), Detachment 88 of the Indonesian National Police (Participant 2 and Participant 3), and the National Intelligence Body or BIN (Participant 5 and Participant 6). Additionally, an interview was conducted with an intelligence expert affiliated with the Indonesia National Research Agency or BRIN (Participant 7). All intelligence agents who participated in this research consented to be identified solely through their positions and affiliations. It is important to note, however, that this paper focuses on the experiences of women working in security sectors within the intelligence community. In such community, the pervasive hegemonic masculinist culture often reinforces gender inequality, hampering women’s meaningful roles within CT-related security sectors.

Following this introduction, this paper presents the theoretical and conceptual frameworks on which the analysis is anchored. The subsequent section discusses the contextualisation of intelligence gathering within the gender mainstreaming framework in CT. The next part presents the analysis of the paper by examining the themes related to how gender operates within the hegemonic masculinity institutions, the framing of female bodies, and socio-institutional challenges of women working in intelligence agencies. The last part is the concluding section that summarises the main findings of this paper.

Women’s roles in security sectors: the feminist security studies (FSS) approach

This paper employs a Feminist Security Studies (FSS) approach which aims to look at women’s roles in security fields and reformulate the masculinist views traditionally applied to women in conflict situations. Specifically, FSS emerges as a field that seeks to focus on how gender identity and gender politics shape experiences of security and insecurity (Lee-Koo, 2020). This is because gender is not only a tool for the maintenance of power, but also intersects with other identities that enable structural violence – for example, class, religion and race (Gentry & Sjoberg, 2015). Gender lens can describe patterns of sexual violence during war, make sense of women committing violence and explore the reproduction of gender in post-war peacebuilding efforts (Prügl, 2011). In addition, gender is the crucial factors underlying specific international phenomena such as women’s engagement as political violence (Sjoberg & Tickner, 2011), women’s roles within the military and armed conflicts (Enloe, 2000), and the use of sexual violence as war strategy (Pankhurst, 2014). In the context of this paper, employing a gender lens in examining the radicalisation of men and women to terrorism is crucial as gender plays a significant role in constructing pathways to extremist activism and violence, revealing how radical identities are formed within power structures (Pearson, 2023, p. 165).

Importantly, gender is a non-fixed category constructed through repeated performances and shaped by social, cultural, and historical contexts (Butler, 2002). These performances are shaped by power relations, highlighting the performativity of gender as something that individuals do rather than something they inherent. The concept of gender performativity has implications for power and agency. Therefore, gender significantly impacts human agency, social relations, global politics, and power dynamics, leading to inequalities between women and men (Shepherd, 2014). These inequalities manifest in the assignment of responsibilities, the activities undertaken, access to and control over resources, and opportunities for decision-making (Myrttinen, 2019).

In addition, gender defines norms and relations between men and women within a particular context. In Indonesian Muslim societies, gender norms and gender relations are shaped by Islamic moral code and customary practices, underlining permissible interactions between men and women (Blackwood, 2007). Within a conservative society, gender relations are regulated through the notion of mahram or sexual purity. According to this notion, devout Muslim women should only interact with male mahram such as their husband or male relatives like father or brothers (Khelghat-Doost, 2017). In Indonesian society, mahram dictates social norms and behaviours, especially in public spaces.

Therefore, the application of a gender lens in analysing global security issues and how women play significant roles within the security sectors such as intelligence agencies, is helpful in revealing the gender politics at work and bringing into focus gendered identities, politics and relationships (Lee-Koo, 2020). Additionally, analysing the impacts of gender performativity within intelligence agencies is essential in uncovering gendered practices within a particular context and organisational setting. These practices often lead to the marginalisation of women’s roles within highly militaristic institutions such as CT sectors in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

‘Disruptive’ female bodies: gendered organisation and hegemonic masculinity

In gendered organisations like intelligence sectors, men possess political, economic, and social power, thus favouring masculine traits over femininity. Within such male-dominated workplaces, women’s bodies are perceived as deviating from universally accepted (male) bodies, resulting in gender stereotypes and bias. Hence, this article employs both the concepts of gendered organisations and gendered habitus to investigate how societal gender norms regarding women’s and men responsibilities shape their perspectives and their career trajectories in intelligence sectors. The integration of both concepts is pertinent because gender norms not only shape how organisations operate and privilege certain gender norms, but also how organisations mould men and women’s behaviours under specific gendered constructions of male and female bodies.

The body itself becomes a site where politics unfolds, and inequalities are often the consequences of female bodies being perceived as deviating from the masculine standard (Shepherd, 2014). Social constructions of masculine and feminine bodies produce gendered habitus which is reinforced by social structures, practices, and discourses found in contexts such as the family, education, and the workplace which is referred to as gendered habitus (Lo & Lim, 2023; Bourdieu, 2001 as cited from Steidl & Brookshire, 2019, p. 1273). As a result, gendered habitus significantly shape gender relations and identity in everyday life, as they become embedded and embodied within individual and institutional norms.

The concept of gendered organisation can explain how the individual and institutional gendered habitus marginalised women in workspaces. Joan Acker’s (1990) theory of gendered organisations asserts that organisations are structured in a way that reinforces gender distinctions, where advantage, exploitation, control, emotion, meaning, and identity are patterned based on male and female, masculine and feminine (Acker, 1990). She identifies five processes through which organisations are gendered: practices/structures, culture, interactions, identity, and organisational logic (Acker, 1990). The organisational logic, which may appear gender-neutral, perpetuates the assumption of a disembodied and universal worker (Kronsell, 2005). Acker (1990) further asserts that organisations and jobs are inherently gendered masculine, promoting the interests of men.

This is exemplified in the concept of the disembodied and universal worker, which aligns with the notion of hegemonic masculinity – the most honoured way of being a man (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Hegemonic masculinity, associated with authority and power, represents a hierarchy of masculinities (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005; Duriesmith & Ismail, 2019). Furthermore, Connell and Messerschmidt (2005) emphasise that the characteristics linked to hegemonic masculinity are not fixed but vary across historical periods and locations. Although various changes have been introduced, such as recruitment of women and the gender mainstreaming policies adopted within some of its institutions, the Indonesian intelligence community continues to uphold its hegemonic masculinity and militaristic traits, which further normalise gendered organisational practices towards its female members.

Intelligence gathering and gender mainstreaming in CT

There is no agreed definition of intelligence and there have been attempts to define what is meant by intelligence (Glees, 2015; Lowenthal, 1999; May, 1995). For this paper’s purpose, intelligence is defined as the processed information required by an entity to effectively address and mitigate potential threats or unfavourable circumstances that could jeopardise the interests of such entities as individuals, groups, communities, corporations, organisations, or states (Nwangwu et al., 2021, p. 4). The intelligence gathering process entails collecting, analysing, producing, and utilising information that relates to potentially hostile states, groups, individuals, or activities with the objective of bolstering national security (Nwangwu et al., 2021). Although technological advancements and environmental changes have influenced the techniques of intelligence gathering, human sources, including both men and women, have consistently served as an enduring and invaluable resource of information (Nwangwu et al., 2021). In the context of CT, women play crucial roles in intelligence gathering and their involvement contributes to a comprehensive understanding of potential threats and aids in identifying individuals, groups, or activities that pose risks to national security.

Similarly, the global recognition of the gendered impacts of conflicts and the imperative for gender equality and women’s participation in peacebuilding was solidified with the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda in 2000. This acknowledgment has extended to incorporate the need to address the gendered dimensions of terrorism, violent extremism, and their prevention, highlighted by the UNSCR 2242 in 2015 and the UN Secretary-General's Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism in 2016. As a result, there is an increasing emphasis on improving gender equality, implementing gender mainstreaming, and prioritising women’s empowerment in CT efforts (Brown, 2021; Gasztold, 2020; Gordon & True, 2019; Pearson, Winterbotham, & Brown, 2020; Rothermel & Shepherd, 2022; White, 2022). In this paper, gender mainstreaming is ‘a strategy to include women in the security process and achieve gender equality’ (White, 2020, p. 2).

Consequently, the integration of gender mainstreaming, the WPS agenda and preventing violence extremism (PVE) is imperative as it serves two primary purposes. Firstly, the agenda emphasises the importance of including women in security services, recognising the valuable contributions they can make in these roles (Fink & Davidian, 2017). Secondly, the agenda mandates the use of gender analysis to better understand conflict drivers, impacts, and potential resolution options (Asante & Shepherd, 2020). UNSCR 2242 also underscores the significance of integrating a gender perspective into CT, particularly within intelligence agencies. Member states are encouraged to conduct gender-sensitive research and collect data on the specific drivers of radicalisation for women, as well as the impacts of counterterrorism strategies on women’s human rights (Asante & Shepherd, 2020). This comprehensive approach aims to address the gender-specific aspects of violent extremism and ensure that policies and strategies are effectively designed to counter such threats while also promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment (Asante, Chilmeran, Shepherd, & Tiller, 2021; Mesok, 2022; Shepherd, 2020).

In the Indonesian context, the incorporation of gender mainstreaming policies into the country’s state bureaucracies was initiated with the ratification of CEDAW on 13 September 1984. Article 5 of CEDAW obligates states to abolish the prejudices arising from the notion of inferiority/superiority based on sex or gender stereotypes regarding men and women’s roles. Intelligence agencies should align with CEDAW by implementing policies that oppose gender discrimination, creating mechanisms to address institutional gender biases, and removing barriers to women’s training and advancement, thus ensuring their full participation in the agency (Hutton, 2019).

Additionally, the Indonesian government has adopted the two National Action Plans (NAPs) on WPS agenda in recognising the distinct impacts of armed conflicts and insecurities to women and thus sought to promote women’s full and equal participation in the security sector, and in decision making on peace and security matters (Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture of The Republic of Indonesia, 2014, 2021). While the first NAP (2014–2019) has yet to include security threats arising from violent extremism as stipulated within the UNSCR 2242 in 2015, the Second NAP on WPS (2020–2025) enacted in July 2021, implicitly addresses women’s involvement in violent extremism and its prevention (Chuzaiyah & Kholifah, 2021).

Nevertheless, there are only three Indonesian security-related ministries involved in CT which have incorporated gender mainstreaming policies into their planning, budgeting, and policy implementation based on gender analysis. These ministries include the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs through the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Regulation No 2/2022 (Coordinating Ministry for Political Legal and Security Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, 2022), the Ministry of Defence through the Minister of Defence Regulation No 9/2020 (Indonesian Ministry of Defence, 2020), and the Indonesian National Police through the Head of Indonesian National Police Regulation No 1/2022 (Indonesian National Police, 2022). This demonstrates the scarce efforts made to establish and implement gender mainstreaming policies in the Indonesian security sectors responsible for CT and reflects the fundamentally militaristic practices permeating the state’s security agencies.

In light of these international frameworks on gender mainstreaming, responses to terrorism can be broadly categorised into two strategies: the so-called hard approach, which covers efforts to counter terrorist acts, and the so-called soft approach to prevent violent extremism. The hard approach involves the use of intelligence, law, policing, and military powers, and this approach prioritises militarised responses and strict legal frameworks to counter violent attacks as they occur or in the immediate aftermath (Agastia et al., 2020; Brown, 2017; Nwangwu & Ezeibe, 2019). They do so through militarised actions and the strict implementation of legal frameworks. Women are key players in this approach such as by performing roles in military and paramilitary forces (Nwangwu & Ezeibe, 2019, p. 169), being soldiers in the global ‘War on Terror’ (Sylvester & Parashar, 2009), law enforcement, intelligence officers and prison officers (The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), 2020) and psychologists for counselling services and risk assessment mechanisms (Sukabdi, 2015). In this context, this article focuses on the intelligence sector as an inseparable part of CT strategies or the hard approach in Indonesia and how women contribute to CT strategies through their roles as part of the Intelligence Community (IC).

Women’s roles in the Indonesian IC for CT: evidence from the field

Indonesian women have played significant roles in the struggle for independence, and the postcolonial Indonesian state has continued to employ women in contemporary security sectors. Women serve in the Indonesian Armed Forces branches, including the Army, Air Force, and Navy and policewomen and work as civil servants in civilian security agencies such as the Ministry of Defence, BNPT, the National Intelligence Body and the Coordinating Ministry of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs. Each of these agencies has its own intelligence and counterterrorism division, tasked with conducting intelligence operations for counterterrorism purposes.

All participants in this research concur on the significant roles that women play in intelligence gathering for CT. A prominent role identified is their involvement in accessing women-only communities associated with specific Islamist religious ideologies, characterised by strict gender-segregated norms (Nwangwu et al., 2021). Within these communities, the presence of female agents allows for the establishment of trust and loyalty, as the broader Indonesian society generally associates intelligence agents with males. Consequently, female agents may encounter less suspicion (Participant 7, BRIN, interview, May 31, 2023). This, in turn, facilitates more accessible intelligence data collection, as women are perceived as approachable and adept at engaging with individuals within these communities.

The significance of female agents in accessing female-only groups and forums, though initially appearing to instrumentalise women’s roles, is more nuanced and contextually dependent, particularly within fundamentalist Islamist communities. In Indonesia, gender norms, influenced by the Islamic moral code and customary practices, reconstitute ideas about sexuality, shaping what is considered proper gender relations in public (Blackwood, 2007, p. 297). Failure to meet these gender relation patterns is perceived as unacceptable in a religious sense and as jeopardising family honour and community order. While men have more freedom to express their sexuality publicly, women’s sexuality undergoes stringent scrutiny and control, adhering to the strict gender relations imposed on them. Within extremist circles, women face strict prohibitions on interacting with men, especially those outside their groups. Amid these cultural and religious sensitivities, female agents play essential role in addressing the barriers of gender relations, sexuality regulations and the notion of mahram in conducting intelligence operations for counterterrorism purposes.

In addition, female agents also play important roles in intelligence analysis, bringing in a more gender-aware view within the analysis. This study reveals that female intelligence analysts provide valuable insights and alternative viewpoints regarding women’s engagement with terrorism. One participant from BIN emphasises that women possess a unique way of thinking, paying attention to intricate details, and contributing to empathy-based strategies like exploring familial connections to effectively neutralise threats (Participant 5, BIN, interview, May 30, 2023). Additionally, an agent from BNPT contends that women’s perspectives in intelligence analysis counter the tendency to view women involved in violent extremism solely as ‘more sinister and militant than men’, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of underlying factors influencing their involvement (Participant 4, BNPT, interview, July 13, 2021). Furthermore, female agents conduct gender analysis in understanding women’s engagement in terrorism by incorporating concepts like power relations and gender inequality as drivers for violent extremism (Participant 6, BIN, June 1, 2023).

Another distinctive role within CT efforts, undertaken by BIN, involves agent handling for intelligence gathering and deradicalisation purposes. A participant from BIN emphasises that her primary responsibilities revolve around supporting deradicalisation programs, which, for an intelligence agency, can be challenging due to the need for subtlety (Participant 6, BIN, interview, June 1, 2023). This can be done through a ‘front organisation’ and by relying on individuals within these organisations to carry out deradicalisation activities. Within the intelligence field, a front organisation refers to an entity or organisation that is controlled by an intelligence agency in order to conceal its activities (‘Front Organisations’, Collins English Dictonary, n.d.). These front organisations or proprietaries which can include corporations, business, charities or educational organisations, serve as covert entities representing the interests of intelligence agencies (‘Front Organisations’, The Central Intelligence Agency, 2016). This research finds that BIN employs these front organisations, such as charities and non-profit foundations to conduct covert CT activities, including deradicalisation programs (Participant 6, BIN, interview, June 1, 2023). In this case, female agents in BIN play essential roles in managing, gathering and analysing reports from these front organisations.

Concurrently, Participant 6 also plays the role as an agent-handler by managing operations conducted by field agents in the front organisations, overseeing the development of appropriate deradicalisation activities, such as engaging with terrorism inmates. Her work also involves training field agents to comprehend the distinct characteristics, leadership styles, and ideologies of each terrorist group. The various tasks performed by this female agent exemplify her significant role in disrupting extremist networks by conducting the deradicalisation programs.

In addition to their involvement in intelligence gathering, intelligence analysis, agent handling, and deradicalisation efforts, female agents also play a critical role in the arrest and repatriation process. Despite the targets being male, situations may arise where the presence of women becomes necessary, especially when dealing with both male and female extremists. Within extremist Islamist organisations, the concept of mahram holds significant importance, hence arresting female terrorist suspects may lead to extreme danger without considering this gender-specific aspect. One notable case illustrating this issue is the arrest of Dian Yulia Novi, identified as the first female suicide bomber aspirant in 2016 (Nuraniyah, 2018). An agent from Densus 88/INP recounted the dilemma faced by the team during the operation in arresting Dian Yulia Novi who was in a boarding house with confirmed indications of a ‘rice cooker’ bomb in the vicinity (Participant 3, Densus 88/INP, interview, May 22, 2021). The team was aware of the potential risk of the bomb being detonated at any moment. However, due to the absence of female personnel, the team confronted difficulties in negotiating with the suspect effectively. Recognising the importance of a gender-sensitive approach, the team deliberated as to whether to proceed with the arrest under such circumstances.

The incident highlights the important roles of women in intelligence as a part of CT strategies, particularly in situations involving female suspects. Additionally, female agents play significant roles in managing the return and deportation of individuals from ISIS territory in 2017 (The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), 2019). This is because most returnees are women who prefer to interact with female authorities due to mahram. Involving female agents in these situations becomes crucial to address these cultural sensitivities and ensure the safety and effectiveness of the arrest and repatriation procedures.

The gendered dynamics of women’s roles in IC: beyond stereotypical ‘women’s jobs’

Being women in an institution of hegemonic masculinity presents challenges, even when they are meaningfully contributing to CT efforts. A female agent from Densus 88/INP emphasises her crucial role in providing accurate intelligence analysis used for legal proceedings, investigations, and for upholding human rights principles. In addition to completing this complicated task, she also needs to provide recommendations for Densus 88/INP task force members working at the provincial level, responsible for arresting terrorist suspects. However, despite fulfilling these important responsibilities and believing it is her duty as a member of law enforcement forces, she still feels underappreciated due to her gender. She confides that:

The main challenge I feel as an agent is the ‘gender’ problem. I feel that as a woman, I am still considered unimportant, for example by them mentioning the phrase ‘You are a woman’. Even though we (women) have more workloads, we (women) will not be considered as working as heavily as men. Sometimes I think ‘ah I understand this problem better than him’, but I am often feel not included because I am a woman. (Participant 2, Densus 88/INP, interview, August 6, 2021)

The statement highlights a significant challenge faced by a female agent in the intelligence community: the persistent issue of gender bias. Feeling undervalued and less important due to being a woman, the informant perceived that her contributions were not considered as substantial as those of her male counterparts. Despite having better expertise and knowledge in certain issues, she experienced gender-based exclusion. This gendered view reinforces biases that lead to women being perceived as less capable or less influential than their male counterparts.

Nevertheless, women in intelligence agencies often find themselves facing contradictory situations. In these agencies, women are frequently confined to tasks labelled as ‘women's jobs’ or secretarial duties. While some participants in this study challenge this perception and assert their expertise in handling specific important duties (Participant 1, Ministry of Defence, interview, October 30, 2021), others choose to conform and prefer to perform these assigned tasks. One female agent from BIN acknowledged the prevailing tendency in masculine and patriarchal societies to underestimate women’s capabilities and suitability for certain tasks based solely on their gender (Participant 5, BIN, interview, May 30, 2023). Despite this awareness, she intentionally chose to work in a ‘women’s job’ as a liaison officer, which entails fewer analytical, substantial, and field-related duties. This decision allows her to prioritise her family’s needs and allocate more time to them.

Being a married woman in a patriarchal society means having to fulfil both private and public roles simultaneously, bearing the burdens of responsibilities within households and workplaces. In this context, while acknowledging the significance of women’s roles in the intelligence agency, female agents may consciously opt against assuming challenging tasks such as operational and surveillance duties. Caregiving responsibilities and multiple burdens that women face in their personal and professional lives may be the underlying reason for women’s marginalisation in assuming critical roles in security sectors. This may lead them to conform to these gendered roles and condone the gendered practices of instrumentalising women as feminine subjects, with pure, maternal, emotional, innocent, and peace-loving traits (Gentry & Sjoberg, 2015), especially within masculine fields like intelligence for CT efforts.

Similarly, a male agent from Densus 88/INP recounted the experience of his female colleague who, upon getting married, decided to shift towards more administrative roles despite previously carrying out operational duties on par with her male counterparts (Participant 3, Densus 88/INP, interview, May 22, 2021). He highlighted his view that:

When women have married, with dynamic tasks like ours, it would be difficult (for them) to execute the tasks … the tasks would likely to be delayed, sometimes due to issues related to family obligations. It would be hard to evaluate them. (Participant 3, Densus 88/INP, interview, May 22, 2021)

This illustrates that within CT sectors, gender norms impact how men and women perceive their roles and how their roles shift once women are married. It underscores the specific construction of women’s nurturing roles as normalised, likely inhibiting their capabilities as security agents or field officers. Hence, the shift to administrative duties becomes a way for women to negotiate between their private and public roles. Meanwhile, men are assumed not to be burdened by familial roles, making them more likely to successfully execute orders. This reveals that CT mechanisms rely on two gendered assumptions: that women are nurturing and, therefore, unsuitable for masculine tasks, which are deemed ‘too dangerous’ for women with caregiving responsibilities (Brown, 2017).

The issue of women being limited to administrative, secretarial and human resource roles while men dominate decision making, operational and managerial positions is not unique to Indonesia but is prevalent in intelligence services worldwide (Hutton, 2019, p. 11). This highlights how the burden of care placed on women working in security sectors may compel them to choose administrative, secretarial and human resources roles to alleviate their responsibilities while maintaining their employment within the agencies.

While these women exercise agency in their choices, societal expectations imposed on married women and mothers play a role in shaping their decision-making capacities. Engaging in more analytical work, surveillance and intelligence operations is perceived as impeding women’s ability to perform their family obligations, as the traditional gendered division of labour places the primary responsibility for caregiving on women. This decision highlights the individual’s gendered habitus, wherein societal gender norms regarding women’s caregiving responsibilities shape their perspectives. Meanwhile, men are typically afforded the freedom to work without the same considerations for caregiving responsibilities at home. Consequently, women will be less likely to achieve higher rank managerial positions to be able to achieve women’s equality within the security sectors reform and create meaningful gender-responsive policies.

Meanwhile, the institutional gendered habitus becomes evident in how the institution perceives married women as incapable of handling the same workloads as men, leading to a diminished importance of their role in intelligence operations. When women are unable to accomplish these employment and societal expectations, they are often stigmatised as disruptive and labelled as having low productivity. Due to the general assumption in Indonesia that married women ‘are tied’ to their family institutions, organisations tend to hold a certain stereotype regarding the lack of productivity of married female employees (Participant 3, Densus 88/INP, interview, May 22, 2021).

These findings suggest that the issue lies within the organisational gendered views, which idealise universal (male) bodies that are not burdened with caring responsibilities. In addition, married women are confronted with the stereotype that their family obligations bind them, despite men not facing the same expectations. As the burden of care primarily falls on women, they are perceived as less capable than men, and women’s absence due to caring responsibilities, for instance, is seen as an inability to handle the same workload as men or as they did before marriage. This highlights the prevailing masculinist perspective that universalises male experiences as the norm within the intelligence sector.

The framing of female bodies

Sexualised objects and intelligence gathering for CT

Being a woman in an intelligence organisation presents challenges related to how agencies may exploit female bodies in CT efforts. In intelligence agencies, women’s presence often sparks fascination, depicted through the lens of the male gaze. Women are stereotyped as either enchanted and controlled by secret agents or cunning and seductive agents themselves (Gasztold, 2022). These stereotypes are often strategically utilised in intelligence operations, leveraging societal perceptions of femininity, masculinity, and sexual preferences.

In the Indonesian context, these perceived views of sexualised female agents are exploited when intelligence operations are dealing with funding issues. When funding is short, female field agents are encouraged to establish romantic relationships with male targets. A source from BRIN confirmed the existence of this practice:

In Indonesia, it is widely known that if there is a shortage of funds for an operation, but the agents still need to gather data, they use a strategy to get romantically involved with the targets … I get this info from the intelligence officers who confided in me, and I can confirm that it is really happening. Women have the advantage because if male agents were to have a relationship with their targets, people would be more suspicious due to the prevailing view that women are not intelligence officers. Thus, it gives women more leverage to use the relationship as cover to do their jobs. (Participant 7, BRIN, interview, May 31, 2023)

This statement highlights how this strategy for gaining operational funding undermines women’s authority over their bodies, forcing them to use their bodies as trade-offs for information. It demonstrates how organisations often exploit women’s sexuality for the organisation’s interests.

Additionally, these dynamics of gender relations and the persistence of gender stereotypes within intelligence agencies reflect broader societal dynamics, blurring the line between the public and private spheres. For instance, participants in this study underlined the existence of gender relations, where intelligence institutions maintain certain stereotypes of female agents as ‘the sexier the better’ (Participant 7) and as embodiments of ‘male standards of attractiveness’, (Participant 6) where female agents should conform to notions of sexiness, make-up, and long hair, all of which benefit the institutions.

Additionally, there are risks associated with female bodies when conducting surveillance in Islamist extremist networks. Muslim single women are prohibited from interacting with their non-mahram within the extremist groups, due to the strict gender norms within jihadist communities. This means that female agents, to be accepted within these communities, must be tied to men to be seen as pure and not sexually disruptive to the extremist communities. Female agents then face the risk of being married off by these male extremists. An agent from BIN mentioned this challenge:

I have heard stories of women in the field being asked to marry terrorist targets. If they approach a male terrorist and he sees that the woman is not married, the man will offer to marry her or offer his friends to marry her. This is not only unsettling but also worrying. There is also still a view that if female agents are married, they will be easily indoctrinated. BIN thus immediately withdrew women from their assignments. (Participant 6, BIN, interview, June 1, 2023)

The statement above underscores the risks associated with female agents’ abilities to execute their duties in the field due to the stereotypical view that women are easily indoctrinated. This view is based on specific gender binary perceiving women as feminine beings who are relying more on emotions than logic, in contrast to men. However, this assumption does not hold true, as data shows that the majority of terrorists are men, both globally and in the Indonesian context (Dier & Baldwin, 2022). Meanwhile, male agents do not deal with risks associated with gender norms, as they can marry their targets unofficially and then leave without being perceived as weak or disruptive to the assignments. When female agents are at risk of being married by jihadists, the assignments must be ceased due to concern of potential indoctrination, which can disrupt the organisation’s operations. This implies that the organisation perceives women as having less capability to resist indoctrination using reason and logic, rather than it being a concern for women’s safety.

The myth of gender-responsive supports for women’s productivity

In intelligence sectors, women need both intangible support and targeted provisions to contribute to intelligence gathering, intelligence analysis, agent handling and deradicalisation in implementing CT strategies. However, institutional gendered practices, which predominantly cater to male bodies, often neglect the specific needs of women, hindering their productivity. Despite an increase in the recruitment of women in recent years, significant gaps still exist in addressing their fundamental needs. The majority of female participants in this research emphasised several critical issues that need to be addressed to enhance women’s meaningful participation within the intelligence community.

The first issue is the lack of adequate restroom facilities for women, such as that of BIN. The two research participants from BIN highlight the lack of regards to women’s specific needs for restrooms. Despite starting to recruit female agents in 2016, the women’s restroom was only available in 2018. While there is now a women's restroom on every floor, the number is significantly fewer compared to the male restrooms, with only one provided. This inequality in restroom facilities reflects a disregard for the equal treatment of women in the workplace.

Another important concern raised by female agents in BIN and Densus 88/INP is the absence of a proper lactation room. It took a significant event, such as the leadership meeting, for the need for a lactation room to be acknowledged and addressed. Additionally, female agents in both BIN and Densus 88/INP highlight the absence of day-care facilities. As women may face difficulties in finding suitable childcare options, the lack of support for day-care facilities creates challenges when trying to balance work and family responsibilities. This highlights the lack of consideration and support for working mothers in intelligence agencies.

The absence of a day-care facility and lactation rooms further marginalised women, making it even more challenging for female agents to manage their caring responsibilities while fulfilling their professional duties. This is despite the fact that in 2015, the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Children Protection (MOWECP) issued Regulation No. 5/2015 on the Provision of Gender Responsive and Child Care Facilities in the Workplace (Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection, 2015). This regulation mandates that government and private institutions furnish essential facilities, including lactation rooms, day-care centres, health services, and other supportive amenities, aiming to enhance women’s work productivity and safeguard their rights in the workplace. However, since this regulation is not legally binding other institutions, there is no guarantee that state and non-state institutions will abide by this rule.

However, entrenched gender bias, pervasive stereotypes about female employees, and a preference for male norms within patriarchal institutions in the Indonesian Intelligence Community have resulted in significant adverse effects on the women involved in this study. Primarily, the perception of women as less reliable due to their marital and maternal status denies them equal opportunities with men for professional development training, crucial for enhancing leadership, managerial, analytical, and operational skills. Consequently, in the long-term, it significantly impacts women’s career trajectories for managerial positions. This is because certain bureaucratic roles in Indonesia demand specific training and educational paths upon promotion to higher positions (Asian Development Bank, 2021, pp. 34–35).

Additionally, in terms of analytical and operational expertise, the lack of opportunities to gain specialised professional development training for capacity building hamper women’s upskilling and limit their productivity within the dynamic field of intelligence and CT. However, the multitude of burdens that female agents must cope with in their private and public lives often leads women to be complicit in reproducing the gendered roles that consolidate hierarchical relations between men and women (Braat, 2022). Participant 5 from BIN, for instance, expressed contentment despite not being selected for certain assignments or trainings. Due to her marital and familial responsibilities, she believed that conducting specific training and field operations would be challenging for her in balancing between her traditional responsibilities and her roles within the agency.

Overall, these findings suggest the systemic neglect of women’s needs within intelligence agencies. This neglect includes limited attention given to restroom facilities, the delayed provision of a lactation room, the absence of a day-care facility and unequal opportunities for professional developments for better career trajectories. Therefore, there is evidence of a lack of commitment to implement gender-responsive policies within the intelligence community, leading to the failure to acknowledge the unique challenges faced by women in the workplace, particularly in highly patriarchal intelligence sectors. Given the vital roles women play in intelligence agencies, it is imperative to provide the necessary facilities and mechanisms that ensure their equitable participation in the security sector, empowering them to contribute significantly on peace and security matters.

Conclusion

Indonesia has adopted various international norms on gender mainstreaming to incorporate women’s roles within state security sectors, particularly within the intelligence sector. As a result, there are now more women employed by the intelligence sectors for CT purposes. Yet, there is evidence that women still deal with various challenges that impede their meaningful contribution in security sectors. In Indonesian intelligence agencies, women are dealing with gender bias, discrimination, stigmatisation, systemic neglect of their specific needs, and unequal opportunities for professional development. Women are also pressured to comply with gender norms and societal expectations that continue to perpetuate gender discrimination and inequality within the family, broader society, and state bureaucracy. Nevertheless, the view that women’s bodies are disrupting the masculine norm and the way that women’s bodies are sexualised for the benefit of organisations demonstrate the individual and institutional gendered habitus that are pervasive within the intelligence agencies presented in this analysis.

A commitment to gender mainstreaming within intelligence agencies requires efforts in addressing the specific societal construction of femininity and masculinity, which continues to marginalise women. In turn, this construction continues to threaten their meaningful roles within the Indonesian IC in performing CT strategies. Failure in acknowledging these societal gender norms and institutional gender biases will lead to the marginalisation of women in contributing to the intelligence community for CT beyond stereotypical ‘women’s jobs’.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP) Scholarship.

Notes

1 On 13 May 2018, a family of six carried out attacks on three churches in Surabaya, East Java, resulting in the death of 12 worshipers. Concurrently, three individuals from another household, planning a similar attack, died in Sidoarjo when their bomb prematurely exploded. The following day, 14 May 2018, another family on two motorcycles detonated a bomb at the Surabaya police headquarters, injuring 10 people. These incidents were part of the 2018 East Java bombings that evidently prompted the revision of the Indonesian Anti-Terrorism Law in 2018 (Jacob, 2018).

2 This number has been generated based on the author’s professional duties as the member of security-related institution in Indonesia. However, for public data on the number of Indonesian extremists behind bars is accessible from an IPAC Report published on 2 February 2023 which mentions that 57 women have been arrested on terrorism charges between 2004 and 2022 (IPAC, 2023b, p. 1).

3 While acknowledging this paper’s primary focus on women’s roles in intelligence, it also explores the significant role that gender norms play within particular societies, organisations, groups, and cultures. Gender norms refer to a set of expectations regarding how people of each gender should behave, and these standards of behaviour exert significant pressures, particularly on women, to conform (Saferworld & Uganda Land Alliance, 2016). Female agents grapple with gender norms, such as societal expectations for women to perform traditional roles like nurturing and caring for households, while working as female agents. These burdens arising from the gender norms and sets of expectations associated with being born women limit women’s meaningful roles in intelligence sectors. Therefore, the use of gender analysis in this context remains relevant to this article.