This article presents the status and trends in the societal sector of security as seen through securitization theory. The first past discusses the concept of "societal security", its definition, and relationship to traditional state security. The next parts present the main issues that make up the agenda of societal security, discuss gender and religion as closely related issues thay could either merit a part each of their own or be discussed within the context of societal security, but with attention to their peculiar features that are not comprehended well by fully subsuming them under "standard" societal security logic. The study finally assesses trends in the societal sector- the effects of the end of the Cold War and of 9-11 respectively, as well as the prospects for both the relative importance of and the main dynamics within thid sector before it offers some conclusions.