those groups, risks being diminished by the shift towards security-centric responses to FTFs. Women who have been trafficked or otherwise forced into exploitation by terrorist groups must not be re-victimized by being prosecuted and punished for offences resulting from the fact that they have been trafficked or forced into exploitation. Consistent with international human rights obligations to end impunity and provide reparation to victims of sexual and gender-based violence, states must take all necessary measures to hold to account those responsible for such abuses and to provide all women who have been subject to trauma and victimization with the support they may need. This also applies to women who may have played an active part in, or wilfully contributed to, terrorist acts or other FTF-related offences, for which they may face prosecution. States should, therefore, be mindful that women can be considered perpetrators and victims at the same time. Assistance rendered to women who have faced trauma and victimization should include support for relocation out of conflict zones or neighboring countries where they may continue to face abuse, as well as subsequent medical and psychological treatment and rehabilitation. The ongoing nature of violations against women with perceived links to ISIL in Iraq, for example, has been highlighted in recent reports, where it has been described as sowing the “seeds … of the next round of inter-communal violence”.238 Growing attention has rightly been paid to the link between inequality and violent extremism. The UN Secretary-General’s 2015 Plan of Action on PVE notes that it is “no coincidence that societies for which gender equality indicators are higher are less vulnerable to violent extremism.”239 In addition, the importance of empowering women, and the role of women in finding and implementing solutions to effectively address the FTF problem, has been recognized and encouraged.240 At the same time, states should ensure that women are not unfairly instrumentalized by measures to prevent and counter FTF threats, and that those measures recognize individual and social realities women are facing. While the prosecution of mothers for sending small amounts of money for basic needs to children abroad can be seen as an example of over-reaching impact of the criminal law, as set out earlier, VERLT prevention measures that engage women as messengers for counter-narratives should be conscious of the potential consequences for the women within their family or community. Likewise, women’s groups should not be pressured to reorient their activities towards national security objectives as a result of an instrumentalist approach by states that see gender equality and the women, peace and security agenda merely as tools for national security, rather than ends in and of themselves.241 238  “The condemned: Woman and children isolated, trapped and exploited in Iraq”, Amnesty International, 17 April 2018, p. 45, <www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde14/8196/2018/en/>. 239  UNSG Plan of Action on PVE, para. 53, op. cit., note 206. 240  For example, “Radicalisation and violent extremism – focus on women: How women become radicalised, and how to empower them to prevent radicalisation”, European Parliament, Study for the Committee on Women’s Rights & Gender Equality, December 2017, <www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/596838/ IPOL_STU(2017)596838_EN.pdf>. 241  F. Ní Aoláin and J. Huckerby, “Gendering Counter-terrorism: How to, and How not to – Part II”, op. cit., note 219. 66 Guidelines for Addressing the Threats and Challenges of “Foreign Terrorist Fighters”