Introduction
Terrorism has long been viewed as largely dominated by men. However, women have been a part of extremist and terrorist groups since forever. Women have performed the roles of recruiters, combatants, fundraisers, and various other critical roles in terrorist organisations. But the public, as well as, the media view this phenomenon of women participating in terrorism either with surprise or with concern or sometimes even with denial. The public, media, and counter-terrorism policies and mechanisms, all view the “threat” of women through a rather misogynistic lens, assuming that they could only play the role of a victim and never of an attacker. It must, however, be argued that women need not necessarily always be the victims in such organisations and that some of them also find extremist ideologies appealing and can find motivation in various aspects like identities of religion, nationality, and gender, among others.
It cannot be denied that the most common theme amongst a majority of extremist groups, despite their differences in motivations, cultures, and identities is their affinity towards misogynistic and backward ideas of what a woman’s role is to be in society and otherwise[1]. While women are seen in greater numbers in the left-wing terrorist groups due to the increased chances of wielding influence, some women are drawn to right-wing terrorist groups with regressive notions of female autonomy and support for subjugation, possibly because it gives them a distorted sense of freedom. So, it is only natural that the question arises whether women are the architects of their destiny catalysing the chaos or are merely the casualties caused by circumstances.
Scroll. in // Somali women in a rally organised by Al-Shabaab
How “Voluntary” is Voluntary?
The involvement of a person in terrorism would be voluntary if it occurred devoid of any sort of coercion, force, or deception, either directly or indirectly. However, it is to be understood with caution that the lines between voluntary and involuntary are rather blurred in this context. Autonomous decision-making flows from an array of different aspects for these women. One cannot simply rely on their “voluntariness” to join a terrorist organisation to deem them to be a volunteer.
In Kenya, for example, there has been an increased involvement of women and girls, especially as recruiters, planners, spies, and sometimes even as the conveners of terror cells, in terrorist groups, such as the Al-Shabab[2]. A research article by Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen called “Women Who Volunteer”[3], analyses the different motivations behind women and girls of the coastal region of Kenya to join the Al-Shabab, a youth terrorist group operating in Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya. The author particularly questions how “voluntary” their decisions are. The study showcases that there are mainly four reasons why women of these countries choose to join organisations such as the Al-Shabab. The first of them is the defence of their faith. With Kenya being a Christian-majority state, some girls interviewed by the author revealed that the oppression and global marginalisation of Muslims were their key motivations. Another set of girls quoted personal crises, better termed as ‘revenge,’ for the acts committed by the government or its officials against their families, loved ones, or even themselves.
While these two reasons can be put largely in the ambit of them making an autonomous decision to volunteer, that is not so with the latter two reasons provided. Many girls (nine of sixteen) emphasised that they joined the network due to their interpersonal relations. This means that their autonomy is rather constrained as it is still largely influenced by the decisions of their husbands in a marital relationship, or their fathers, brothers, or any such male relative. The author highlights how there is a huge chance that coercion or violence may be used against her if a woman showcases any disagreement with the wishes of her male family members. Lastly, other women claimed that although they were recruited involuntarily, through continuous religious indoctrination and repetitive ideological influence, they began to accept and eventually volunteered to be a part of the network.
What this tells us is that, although there are political and ideological motivations behind women joining terrorist organisations such as the Al-Shabab, a lot of structural, cultural, and social factors come into play in determining the role of women as volunteers. Most of the women, as a part of the study, accepted that their decision was largely influenced by the patriarchal nature of their families and the society and how it conforms women to subservient roles that involve simply obeying. Would that constitute a volunteer or a victim? These blurred lines make it rather difficult to draw a stark line of distinguishment categorising women as either in these organisations.
International Policy Digest
The need to move beyond labels
The existing research on terrorism is centred around males. They highlight that the main motivations for men to engage in terrorism include, majorly religious indoctrination or extremism, the “saviour” complex, political or nationality-related ideologies, economic reasons, or even revenge. However, discussions about women in terrorism often only revolve around confining them to the roles of a naïve victim or a devious witch contrary to her social role. It is not uncommon for us to come across women being portrayed as victims, innocent bystanders, martyrs’ mothers or wives, or uncultured and un-feminine women, in conversations about terrorism.
It is often ignored that women have the capacity to form intent on their own and can be drawn to extremism for reasons similar, as well as, different from their male counterparts. Many women who join terrorist organisations are well-educated and do so with the hope of liberation or to ensure the furtherance of a particular ideology[4]. However, most of them are reduced to stereotypes of what a society deems a woman is capable of, thereby underestimating the actual threat female terrorists can have. For example, an article from a reputed news agency describes a female terrorist with the words “doe-eyed”[5] and portrays that she has been brainwashed while completely overshadowing the fact that she was the leader of an all-female IS battalion as per numerous witnesses. These women are seen as ones with no agency, or no capacity to form their ideologies and opinions, being controlled or coerced to participate by men. While it is true that many women are manipulated or coerced, the generalised condescension is quite disruptive as it turns a blind eye to those women who become terrorists of their own volition.
As opposed to this, we see another extreme of the perception of women engaging in terrorism; they are seen as a “disgrace.” While participating as a terrorist is nothing short of disgraceful in general, in this context, it is only so because a woman does it. Society believes that terrorism or violence is inherently masculine and that a woman, who is supposed to be a caregiver, nurturer, and vulnerable, is incapable of doing something like that. This is why, when a woman does engage in terrorism she is seen to be going against the very order of nature, failing to be a woman in the eyes of society, abandoning her family and her responsibilities for violence, all of which are never touched upon while discussing male terrorists.
The impact of underestimating women’s role in terrorism
Decades have gone by since active research on terrorism began, but even then, very little is known about the involvement of women in it. Most of the research and analysis lays much of its focus on men, and the ones that do talk of women also portray them as victims whilst ignoring those acting as perpetrators[6].
However, a research article titled “Measuring Impact, Uncovering Bias? Citation Analysis of Literature on Women in Terrorism[7]” highlights how there has been an increase in the study of women in terrorism in recent years. This makes enormous contributions to help shape better counter-terrorism, as well as, preventive measures to be better equipped to combat the threat of the increase in female terrorists.
Perspectives On Terrorism // Chart showcasing the increase in scholarly research on women in terrorism. The X-axis denotes the time (in years) and the Y-axis indicates the number of publications.
While there is a large increase in the literature concerning women in terrorism, there is still a very long way to go. Counter-terrorism policy formulators, as well as, key decision makers employ the research and reports provided by researchers conducted on terrorism[8], hence, re-emphasizing the need to have extensive literature, as well as, research conducted on the same. The paper also highlights how very often in literature on women in terrorism, the biases of the authors and researchers tend to make their way through facts leading to a counter-productive impact on the policy-makers.
It is of pivotal importance for us to analyse the problem of female terrorism as it exists and not as we would characterise or assume it to be. As per Mia Bloom in her article “Bombshell: Women and Terror,” a female terrorist is deadlier than her male counterparts and can on average kill four times more people. She highlights that it could be easier for female terrorists to achieve their targets more successfully mainly because they are subject to much less scrutiny due to underlying biases and notions of what a terrorist looks like. This brings us back to the huge negative impact of underestimating the threat of female terrorists. Soule examines the portrayal of female and male suicide bombers in media and highlights how the information about female terrorists reinforces gender stereotypes as opposed to their male counterparts[9].
Despite the evolution of gender stereotypes and roles in the modern world, it cannot be denied that these gender-specific roles often shape our understanding of extremism and terrorism. The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate also drew much attention to the need to introduce a gender-based approach to the analysis of radicalisation or terrorism. It highlighted the need to devise counter-terrorism approaches that take into consideration gender and related backgrounds. The magnitude of understanding and increasing research on female terrorists and their roles is of utmost importance as it helps us formulate a more informed and nuanced approach towards optimising the already existing explanations of terrorism, the processes involved in it, such as recruitment, tactical strategy, execution, and its impact.
The Intersectional View
If one were to look at it from an intersectional feminist perspective, analysing the role of women in terrorism moves beyond the simple dichotomy of victims or volunteers. Instead, it seeks to recognise the numerous intersecting factors that shape different experiences, thereby creating different motivations for the participation of women in terrorism, in whatever sense. Intersectional feminism allows us to contextualise the involvement of women in terrorism through various parameters like agency, manufactured consent, or simply oppression. It is necessary to understand how different systems of a society overlap to formulate the role of women in terrorist organisations.
If women are said to play the roles of victims of terrorism, which might seem to be the case more often than not, it limits the extent of perception of terrorism and the methods to oppose it. Instead, gender must be only a variable in the understanding of terrorism. While it cannot be denied that gender and its dynamics do play an extremely crucial role in its understanding, it is important to understand that intersecting systems of society, across the world cannot be put on the same plane to compare. This means that a privileged “white” woman choosing to participate in terrorism through her conviction will be presumed to be a victim. In contrast, a man of low stature in a society (economically, socially, ethnically, etc.), coerced to participate by those holding power will be presumed to be a volunteer or rather a perpetrator.
Similarly, suppose she is said to play the role of a volunteer. In that case, it erases the countless women who directly or indirectly, due to circumstances, are coerced or suborned to engage in terrorism. This will limit access to true justice for those women who get caught up in the violence for various reasons, such as the performance of their social and moral duties of obeying their husbands or male relatives, bonded labour, slavery, and so on.
Conclusion
Women from different communities, backgrounds, religions, nationalities, and different terrorist groups themselves have astonishingly different experiences and impetuses for participating in terrorism. One cannot make a blanket statement categorising women into any role, as that would streamline and introduce bias into the understanding, as well as, the combating of terrorism. Hence, there cannot be a generalisation drawn categorising women as either victims or volunteers.
Policymakers, activists, scholars, and persons with the power to make decisions must extensively reframe their preconceived notions of what a terrorist looks like, especially while formulating counter-terrorism mechanisms. There is a greater need for more holistic and gender-sensitive counter-terrorism strategies that take into account the rights and agency of women from diverse backgrounds and the nuances contained therein. These gender dynamics include a better understanding and sensitisation to women's experiences, vulnerabilities, motivations, and roles and how these could vary subject to socioeconomic status, cultural and ethnic background, religious beliefs, majority-minority interplays, geographic locations, economic status and so on. We must pay attention to these subtleties and complexities in the conversation of the role of women in terrorism, rather than resorting to simplistic and binary categorisations.
Written by,
Srishti NM
PES MUN Society, RR Campus
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