Jihadist brides

Daesh succeeded in recruiting European women and integrating them within its own ranks in more than one instance.

Recruited women offer much-needed backing to the radical organization both inside the European continent and outside it.

This is, however, raising questions on the reasons why some European women tend to be part of such a violent organization.

Daesh’s ability to recruit women from Europe is also inviting the attention of Western media which tries to investigate the methods the organization utilizes in attracting these women.

We need to understand the strategies Daesh follows in attracting these women. This will help us formulate policies that curtail the abilities of the organization in this regard. These policies will help security agencies prevent Daesh returnees from recruiting more women. They can also prevent the emergence of yet a new terrorist organization that uses the same methods in recruiting Europeans.

Female radicalization pathways

In October 2014, the number of European women who left their countries and joined Daesh in both Iraq and Syria was estimated at 550. In 2016 and 2017, this number doubled. This was before the organization fell down like a house of cards. In 2016, the International Center for Counter-terrorism estimated the number of European women within the ranks of Daesh at between 600 and 900. These women passed by Turkey from their original countries on the road to Daesh in Iraq and Syria. They included three British nationals, namely Amira Abase, Kadiza Sultana and Shamima Begum. The three were between the ages of 15 and 16.

Daesh invented different methods in attracting European women to it since the promulgation of the presumed caliphate in 2014. The organization used to say that the presence of women within its ranks was not less important than the presence men.

Repeated defeats could not sap Daesh’s determination to attract more European women. In July 2016, Daesh female recruits staged three terrorist operations. This showed the motivations behind Daesh’s recruitment of women via social media.

For Daesh, women are an important tool to carry out operations in areas where it has no actual presence on the ground. These operations give the organization strength at a time of major weakness and defeat. Women can also evade supervision by security agencies while most of this supervision is focused on men.

Although Daesh mainly depends on social media in attracting women, this social media alone is far from enough for understanding the motivations behind women’s support for such a bloody organization.

The making of identity

Daesh realizes women’s importance for the strength of its structure. This is why it always seeks to adapt the identity of the women joining it to its own radical ideology. This ideology makes it necessary for women to migrate to the presumed caliphate and swear allegiance to the caliph. It also makes it necessary for them to consider all other states, including Western states, “infidel”. Recruits must leave their families and friends behind.

Empowerment

Daesh took measures to empower Western women inside it. It did this by concentrating in its media discourse on the important role of women. It always said women played a role at the military front that was not less important than the role played by men.

To appeal to Western women, the organization focused on the estrangement experienced by some women in Western societies. It talked extensively about limits to the freedom of Muslims to practice their religious rituals in these societies. It also encouraged women to migrate to the presumed caliphate to get rid of all these problems and also take revenge on these societies for giving them a hard time.

Some European governments banned the full face veil and the Islamic headgear in public places. Daesh uses this to incite Muslim women against these governments and draw in recruits.

This is why the same governments need to clarify some measures to the public. They can do this by explaining that the Islamic full face veil and the headgear cause harm to the security of European states because they are used by terrorist organizations in staging terrorist attacks. European governments can also find ways to ensure that those wearing the headgear or the full face veil do not carry explosives.

Sexual jihad

A number of media reports focused on the use of women by Daesh for sex purposes. This affected the image of the organization negatively, especially among women who used to sympathize with it. Consequently, the organization worked hard to refute claims in this regard. Daesh did this so masterfully that it managed to win overt the hearts of women yet again. Social media played a big role in this regard.

Recommendations

Security agencies need to focus on radical sites and counter claims by Daesh that life under its presumed caliphate is utopic. They need to concentrate on the psychological aspect of the battle against this radical organization, not the security aspect only. They also need to keep an eye on women who sympathize with the organization.

European governments have to uncover the practices of the organization by publishing interviews with women who succeeded in escaping it. This will reduce the appeal of the organization among European women. They also need to focus on the stories of women who made successes in European societies.

The same governments need to focus on the psychological and social pitfalls used by Daesh in attracting women to it. They also have to do justice to Muslim women, which will contribute to reducing the number of women sympathetic with the organization.