1. Women and Terrorism
- Author:
- Jamille Bigio and Rachel Vogelstein
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Extremist groups rely upon women to gain strategic advantage, recruiting them as facilitators and martyrs while also benefiting from their subjugation. Yet U.S. policymakers overlook the roles that women play in violent extremism—including as perpetrators, mitigators, and victims—and rarely enlist their participation in efforts to combat radicalization. This omission puts the United States at a disadvantage in its efforts to prevent terrorism globally and within its borders. Women fuel extremists’ continued influence by advancing their ideology online and by indoctrinating their families. New technology allows for more sophisticated outreach, directly targeting messages to radicalize and recruit women. It also provides a platform on which female extremists thrive by expanding their recruitment reach and taking on greater operational roles in the virtual sphere. The failure of counterterrorist efforts to understand the ways in which women radicalize, support, and perpetrate violence cedes the benefit of their involvement to extremist groups.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Terrorism, Violent Extremism, and Women
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus