Introduction.

This article introduces the articles in the September 2005 issue of the "Studies in Conflict & Terrorism" journal. This issue provides a window on the many forces that structure and shape why women and girls participate in terrorism and other forms of political violence, as well as on how states have come to view, treat, and strategize against them. They offer coverage of key themes which, taken together, begin to suggest the complexity of issues involved in the conduct and representation of such violence. The articles brought together here, consistent with findings in the literature, offer little evidence of gender rights being advanced in the surrounding society in which females carry out political violence.