Engaging with research on protest participation and gender inequalities, we examine how gender dynamics play a crucial role in shaping patterns of political participation by young people across the rural/urban divide. Although robust empirical evidence supports the hypothesis of young people being more likely to engage in extra-institutional forms of activism, there is little available research on the importance of mobility and gender dynamics for generating different patterns of protest participation across the rural/urban divide. We argue that moving from a rural to an urban setting leads to an increase in protest participation for young women, but not for young men. Using an original two-wave panel survey dataset collected for the same young individuals (aged 18–35) between 2018 and 2019 and covering nine European countries, we are able to go beyond traditional correlation analyses and measure our key variables over time, thus developing a dynamic approach that links difference in gender, geographical and social positioning, and protest participation. Our findings demonstrate that the rural/urban divide as a driver of protest participation affects young women and young men differently, because it is shaped by different experiences of politicization, socioeconomic status, and structures of domination and discrimination, leading to different opportunities and incentives for engagement.