A/HRC/46/36 relationships between women and men and in the distribution of power and rights favouring men and disadvantaging women.12 She further affirms the elaboration on that definition relied upon by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), which notes that such attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through socialization processes. 13 While the present report primarily addresses the experiences of women and girls, she notes that men and boys also experience gender stereotyping and that masculinities and femininities also shape roles, expectations and harms in this arena. She underscores the social construction of gender binaries and that they do not fully encompass the ways in which sexual minorities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex persons experience the impact of counterterrorism and countering (violent) extremism law and practice. She also reflects on the impact of those policies and practices for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex persons. An intersectional approach to reflecting the experiences of counter-terrorism measures demonstrates how experiences of discrimination and human rights abuses intersect and are compounded as determined by other social identities, including race, ethnicity, religion, ability, age and sexuality, and beyond. 4. The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned that women and girls bear heavy and unseen burdens resulting from both the direct and indirect impacts of counter-terrorism law and practice. She notes that, in the absence of a globally agreed definition of terrorism, many States have adopted national legislation concerning terrorism that is frequently at odds with the principle of legal certainty. 14 Many countries criminalize acts which are protected by international human rights law, including freedom of expression, privacy, peaceful assembly and religious belief and expression, the right to a fair trial, the right to leave and return to one’s country and the right to family life. The counter-terrorism arena is often mistakenly viewed as gender-neutral, both in its practices and consequences. The Special Rapporteur underscores that that view is mistaken. She stresses that counter-terrorism law and policy, particularly in formal and elite settings, national and international, occur in spaces which are dominated by male actors and informed by gendered stereotypes. 5. The implementation of counter-terrorism and preventing and countering violent extremism law, policy and practice is equally gendered. Women have historically struggled to have due and adequate representation in the security sector that dominates counterterrorism enforcement, including among the police, the military, prison personnel and the intelligence services.15 Nationally, elite security spaces remain dominated by affluent men lacking ethnic, religious and cultural diversity. While some progress is demonstrated in ensuring greater access for women to security sector careers through gender parity strategies, senior and decision-making roles in those arenas remain overwhelmingly closed and inaccessible to women. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization provides one positive example of increased attention to gendered approaches and organizational oversight, through its adoption in 2018 of a revised women, peace and security policy to increase the representation of women at all levels in civilian and military positions. 16 In 2018, France adopted a gender equality strategy that promotes the increased participation of women in 12 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, General recommendation No. 28 (2010); E/CN.4/1996/105, para. 13; and Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, “Gender equality and gender backlash”, position paper. 13 Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, “Gender mainstreaming: strategy for promoting gender equality” (2002), as reaffirmed in United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), “Gender mainstreaming: a global strategy for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls” (2020). 14 See, e.g., Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, “Note on the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism”, sections 3.1–3.3 (2020). 15 Micah Zenko and Amelia Mae Wolf, “Leaning from behind”, Foreign Policy, 24 September 2015; and J. Ann Tickner, Gender in International Relations: Feminist Perspectives on Achieving Global Security (Columbia University Press, 1993). 16 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), “Women, peace and transforming security, visions of the future of women, peace and security for NATO” (2018). 3