; and (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (4) to encourage foreign countries to include women participating in such activities. . 9. Research (a) In general The Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence, shall conduct research on gender and countering violent extremism and terrorism, such as on the following: (1) The root and proximate causes of women’s and men’s participation in terrorist and violent extremist organizations. (2) How both violent extremism and countering violent extremism differently impact women and girls versus men and boys. (3) Ways to engage women and girls who are vulnerable to extremist and terrorist behavior. (4) Ways women and girls can assist in identifying individuals of concern. (5) The intersection of violent extremism and terrorism and the following: (A) Gender-based violence. (B) Women’s empowerment at the household level, such as property and inheritance rights, bride-price and dowry, and the level of societal sanction for the killing or harming of women. (C) Adolescent girls’ empowerment, such as the level of early, child, and forced marriage, and of girls’ access to secondary education. (6) Best practices to support women preventing and countering violent extremism and terrorism. (b) Utilization The Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development shall utilize the results of research required under subsection (a) to inform programming, including by updating relevant country, regional, and inter-agency strategies, projects, and activities, of the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the United States Agency for International Development, respectively. (c) Submission to Congress Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, and the