Hidden by Hate: Understanding Women’s Roles in White Supremacist Deradicalization

White women are and have historically been an integral part of White supremacy. Yet their role in the movement remains understudied, especially as it pertains to deradicalization. As such, in the current investigation I focused on women’s roles and experiences in White supremacist deradicalization. My dissertation comprised two studies: Study One, which explored the experiences of women who left White supremacist groups and became anti-hate activists, and Study Two, which sought to understand the experiences of women who facilitated the disengagement and deradicalization of White supremacists. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as a methodological framework, I identified significant themes from the experiences of women who left their hate groups and became anti-hate activists, as well as from the experiences of women who facilitated hate group exit. I found that for women who left their hate groups and became anti-hate activists, hate group exit was a gendered experience, psychological transformations were common, and loving and supportive connections facilitated the exit process. For women who facilitated hate group exit, they identified love and compassion as driving forces while also feeling emotionally burdened due to lack of external support. These findings can help guide the development of preventative and rehabilitative interventions as well as further integrate women into White supremacist prevention and deradicalization interventionist roles.