In 2025, UNIDIR and the Stimson Center convened a series of multistakeholder workshops to identify practical ways in which gender can be mainstreamed into cybersecurity policies and practices. These brought together a group of leading experts and practitioners from diverse communities of practice addressing critical areas of integrating gender considerations into cybersecurity.

The resulting publication identifies relevant initiatives and good practices developed by Member States and the multistakeholder community and distils key insights, lessons learned, and recommendations on integrating gender perspectives into cybersecurity. It is intended to support Member States and other relevant stakeholders in their efforts to meaningfully integrate gender considerations in national ICT architectures and advance the implementation of the Framework for responsible State behaviour in cyberspace with a gender perspective in mind.

This publcation is structured into four chapters following the four focus areas of the workshops convened:

  1. Gendered threats and impacts of ICT: Analyses how the use and misuse of ICT affects individuals and communities differently and illustrates the diversity of gendered impacts.
  2. Gender and international law in cyberspace: Compiles examples and existing guidelines in which international law obligations and normative commitments can be interpreted and implemented in ways that reflect the lived experiences of those affected by ICT-related threats.
  3. Mainstreaming gender into national cyber policies and practices: Examines gender equality commitments, multistakeholder participation, inclusive workforce development, and gender-responsive institutional mandates and incident-reporting mechanisms guiding national cybersecurity and digital policies and practices.
  4. Gender-responsive cyber capacity-building: Explores examples of targeted upskilling initiatives that can contribute to the full, equal, and meaningful participation and leadership of women and other marginalized groups in technology design and development, cybersecurity measures and incident response, in the formulation of policies, and in cybersecurity governance and diplomacy.

The publication concludes with a list of cross-cutting recommendations stemming from the analyses in the chapters and overarching considerations gathered through the research project. In addition, a curated list of practical resources is also included as a toolbox at the end to guide further reading and engagement.

 

Citation: Allison Pytlak, Dominique Steinbrecher, Jessica Espinosa Azcarraga, Kathleen Scoggin, and Shimona Mohan. Mainstreaming Gender in Cybersecurity: A Compendium of Good Practices. Geneva: UNIDIR, 2026. doi.org/10.37559/SECTEC/26/CR/06.