New Faces of Terror? Western Women and Jihadi Migration

New Faces of Terror?

Western Women and Jihadi Migration

by Stephanie Stühler

Master of Arts Interdisciplinary European Studies

University of Augsburg

Abstract

The alarming number of Western women deciding to migrate to Syria and Iraq in order to join

the jihad has prompted this research on the examination of motives for their migration and

their roles in the terror network. This paper, therefore, is analysing interviews and other

material of female jihadists to better understand this new phenomenon. Theories of female

migration and agency as well as the role of women in terror organizations build the

framework for the empirical research. The findings of the data and its interpretation will be

verified with the theoretical framework to derive general results from this material and to

recommend possible courses of action for Western governments. The influence of social

media in the recruitment process and as propaganda tool for the circulation of the jihadi

dogma is also examined.

Key words: women, gender, jihadi migration, ISIS, terror

Source:

http://syriadeeply_uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/alalam-alislami-4338166111-53c5430be861a.jpg

Glossary

Al-Khanssaa brigade: all-women police or religious enforcement unit in Raqqa, Syria

Caliphate: Islamic government

ETA: Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, a Basque separatist and nationalist organization

IRA: Irish Republican Army, a military organisation in Northern Ireland

Islamic State/ISIL/ISIS: jihadist rebel group in Syria and Iraq

jihad: Arabic for struggle; religious duty for all Muslims but often used to describe the

military holy war against those who do not believe in the Islamic God

mujahid: person engaged in jihad

niqab: face veil

RAF: Red Army Faction, a former far-left militant group in West Germany

shahada: Islamic declaration; belief in the oneness of God and Muhammad as his prophet

shahid/shaheeda: martyr

Sunni: biggest of the two denominations of Islam (Shia second biggest); Sunni Islam is the

more orthodox version Islam

ummah: collective community of Islamic people

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Migration, Terror and Gender – A disambiguation 2

2.1 Female Migration and Agency 2

2.2 Roles of Women in Revolutionary Conflict 3

2.3 Research Interest 5

3. Analysis 6

3.1 Data Sources 6

3.2 Data Interpretation 7

3.3 Results 10

4. Conclusion 12

Appendix

Transcript 1 14

Transcript 2 19

Transcript 3 22

Transcript 4 23

Sources 26

1

1. Introduction

I feel free for the first time in my life as a woman.

Just to walk in the street in peace!!

#raqqah #is #isis1

The twitter note by a young Swedish woman provides a little insight into the living

environment of young Western women who voluntarily decide to join the jihad, the Islamic

holy war against infidels. Official reports estimate the number of foreign fighters that have

joined Sunni militant organizations in Syria and Iraq about 20.000, the largest numbers from

the European countries France, the United Kingdom and Germany (Munich Security Report

2015: 38). It is unclear how many women are among those radicalized migrants and if they

are even included in these numbers. The fact that women decide to join and support politically

and religiously motivated violence is not a new phenomenon in international politics. Black

Widows and female terrorists in the RAF, IRA, ETA and the Chechen conflict have drawn the

attention of researchers and analysts towards the ‘other’ sex. However, there has been no

established framework on the involvement of women in Islamist organizations as it has long

been assumed that those women do not take on active roles in jihadi groups. Some

commentators have speculated that the push and pull factors behind jihad migration to the

Islamic State differ by sex. Therefore this paper will examine the jihadi migration of Western

women and descry if these women are the new faces of terror and need to be observed more

closely by governmental institutions.

The first part of the paper will provide a theoretical overview on previous research on

migration, gender and terror. These three focus areas will be linked together in order to create

a theoretical base for the empirical research in the second part. The analysis is focusing on a

documentary filmed by Bilal Abdul Kareem (cf. Bilal, Abdul Kareem 2014), an American

Muslim convert who is living among western jihadi fighters and their families inside of Syria

and other news reports about Western jihadi women. After an interpretation of the data, the

results will be discussed and connected to the opening question. The conclusion will briefly

discuss findings on social media pages like Facebook and Twitter and their propaganda

impact.

1 Posted on Twitter by a Swedish Muslim woman (@muhajirahfillah) on 06. Jan. 2015, who emigrated with her kids to Raqqa, headquarters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria (ISIL/ISIS), in: <https://twitter.com/muhajirahfillah/status/552563686544769024>, retrieved on 06.02.2015.

2

2. Migration, Terror and Gender – A disambiguation

In order to profoundly analyse the research question, the terms migration, terror and gender

need to be operationalized and conceptualized. Usually either theories of migration and

gender or terror and gender are linked together and used for sociological, political and

ethnological explanations. The approach of this paper is to acquire a suitable framework for

these definitions and apply it to the analysis.

2.1 Female Migration and Agency

In today’s Western society, migration is usually regarded as a voluntary action in order to

achieve a better life at some different place. This, in fact, is a very one-sided view on the

multidimensional phenomenon of migration. Especially when it comes to women, who

compose half of the worldwide migrant population (cf. Ghosh, Jayati 2009: 2). Female

migration can originate from various factors, it can be for the purpose of marriage but also

because of family reunifications, work, education and so on. Women can be forced to migrate,

they do it voluntarily, permanent or just for a short-term period. Their movement can be

regular or irregular but it is always not only to another country but also to another group or

subgroup. A cultural change is often included which can affect relational structures in both

societies. Migration research identifies four possible motives for relocations into other

countries: constraints by nature, flight or expulsion, economical and cultural reasons (cf.

Hoerder, Dirk/Lucassen, Jan/Lucassen, Leo 2008: 37).

The agenda of Western women migrating to Syria or Iraq to join the jihad can be manifold.

Many of them are converts, persons who converted to Islam from a different or no religion,

and turned to radical Islam at some point in their life because of disappointment, uncertainty

and redemption. Some have been brought up as Muslims and then “found themselves between

two worlds, in neither of which they felt at home” (Khosrokhavar, Farhad 2009: 209). Those

women decide to migrate out of ideological reasons. Others are following their husbands and

other male family members, they might not even have a choice and are coerced to join their

kin. As a direct travel to Syria and Iraq is impossible from the West they take high risks to get

into these countries. In most cases they arrive at the airports of neighbouring countries (e.g.

Lebanon, Turkey, Saudi Arabia) and illegally cross the border to Syria or Iraq. They legally

transmigrate via a third country and their journey ends in the war zone, which by definition is

3

an irregular migration (cf. Gosh, Jayati 2009: 10). Therefore the possibilities of a return to

their home countries are very limited as they face legal prosecution for crimes like subversion

and preparation and exertion of terror acts.

Living as a woman in a patriarchal society entails covering up in public, they have to wear the

niqab, a veil that leaves only the eyes uncovered. Other effects of a migration to a civil war

country are the constant danger of being attacked and the brutalization in a combat zone

where fighting husbands often leave their women home alone. Foreign women usually have

problems when it comes to dealing with these new realities in the beginning. They face

language problems, are home sick, have to get used to the sounds of fighting and the shortage

of Western goods and comfort. For that reason many communities with the same origin arose

from the influx of Western men and women. They help each other upon arrival and

sometimes in finding a suitable husband or clearing other problems of daily life in Syria and

Iraq. Links to their home countries are also possible via mobile phones and Internet but

personal ties to the West are very rare because of their jihadist dogma, which is why messages

mostly contain Islamist propaganda (cf. Klausen, Jytte 2015: 10). Religious affiliation is seen

as an identity marker exceeding the national origin of the migrant women (cf. Six-

Hohenbalken, Maria 2009: 253). The actual function of women from the West in the jihad is

discussed in the next paragraph.

2.2 Roles of Women in Revolutionary Conflict

Western women are very treasured recruits of the jihad. They are showcase that the

movement is multinational, multicultural, multilingual and supersedes the Western culture

and their national policies (cf. Khosrokhavar, Farhad 2009: 208). Women are usually

“perceived as honorable and principled, hence their support brings moral weight to the cause

and can entrench animosity and make conflict resolution difficult to achieve.” (Vogel,

Lauren/Porter, Louise/Kebbell, Mark 2014: 95). In Western societies Muslim women are also

seen as victims, as domineered by men and as mainly nonviolent. The successful recruitment

of these women in a terrorist organization indicates that these perceptions may be either

wrong or out-dated. Instead, the involvement of women is an emerging trend and a reality of

modern warfare. Intelligence services all over the world monitor the participation of women

in jihad, “the changing attitudes towards women in the Muslim world and the emergence of

‘Islamic feminism’” (Cook, David 2005: 378), which mark a radical change in Islam. Three

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types of this development can be systematized (cf. Knop, Katharina von 2007: 411), the

traditional one has been that such women accompany a militant Islamist, usually their

husband or another male family member, from Europe or the West to ISIS-ruled Syria or Iraq.

The second type has emerged when women supported the organizational structures of the

terror organization and established sisterhoods. Finally women also became active in the

fighting and martyrdom operations thus neglecting the “imaginary perception of [their] sexual

condition as wife and mother. In fact, sources show the active role of women in various

different circumstances including their role as wives [and] fighters.” (Martinez Almira,

Magdalena 2011: 31).

To identify their motives and roles in violent and revolutionary conflicts more specifically,

one can follow a gendered (cf. Bloom, Mia 2011: 233-250) and a conceptual (cf. Vogel,

Lauren/Porter, Louise/Kebbell, Mark 2014: 94-106) categorization. In both cases motivations

to join the jihad may arise from personal, political and religious factors “that are sparked at

different times by different stimuli.” (Bloom, Mia 2011: 235). Coercion or choice of

membership also plays a vital role in the assessment. In reality a complicated mix of motives

can be ascertained. For women “the four R’s: revenge, redemption, relationship, and respect”

(ibid: p. 235f) are decisive factors for their participation in terror organizations. The motive

revenge is most often observed after a close family member was killed or the whole religious

community (ummah) was attacked. Women might also seek redemption for past sins, as a

holy fighter and martyr (shaheeda) they are promised that their sins are wiped out and they

will enter paradise. The best way to mobilize women for the jihad is to tie them by

relationships. Marriage and love are the most convincing factors for terrorist participation (cf.

Zulaika, Joseba 2009: 63-130). Finally by engaging in violence and terror acts women want to

gain respect and be promoted to role models in their community. These motives can be the

same for men, although they are even more unfettered and less affected by another factor:

rape (cf. Bloom, Mia 2011: pp. 236-237). In conflict areas, especially in Iraq and Syria the

sexual jihad is a rising practice. Women are offered to ISIS fighters to comfort them and take

on their role in the establishment of the Caliphate. Most of the last category are lured into the

country by false promises and handed over to brothels in order to boost the morale of the

militants (cf. Chastain, Mary 2014). After discussing the motives, the conceptual roles women

take on in ISIS need to be peered. They can range from sympathizer, spy, warrior, and

dominant force when looked at the involvement in the organization (cf. Vogel et al. 2014: 94).

Just as well the activities they are engaged in, as logistician, recruiter, martyr, guerrilla,

operational leader, and political vanguard (ibid: 94), can be used as benchmark. In general

5

four themes are amounted to women in conflict, they are labelled ‘active’, ‘caring’, ‘support’,

and ‘ideological’ (ibid: p. 99ff). The active theme is comprised of leadership functions,

violent activities and fighting, and administrative tasks. The stereotypically feminine tasks are

subsumed under the caring theme. Taking care of the household, child rearing, nursing and

sexual intercourse belong to this category. The support theme contains general logistical tasks

like acting as a courier, smuggler, decoy or spy. The role of spreading the ideology is

integrated in the ideological theme, where women act as political officials, facilitators,

messengers, trainers, fundraisers, propagandists, and suicide bombers.

These theoretical roles and motives of women in revolutionary conflict have clearly shown

that gendered approaches in this field are indispensable and urgently needed to classify the

new phenomenon in Syria and Iraq.

2.3 Research Interest

The main interest for this research emerged in late 2014 when newspaper articles on women

active as holy fighters for the jihad agglomerated. After the Charlie Hebdo attack and several

related shootings in January 2015 in Paris, it has been believed that one accomplice of the

terrorist outrage, a woman named Hayat Boumeddiene, could escape to Syria. Apparently she

turned fundamentalist in 2009 and might have put her boyfriend up to the attack (cf. Zeit

online 2015). In the beginning of February it became known that a seventeen-year-old girl

from Augsburg has travelled to Syria to get married to a mujahid and henceforth live in the

Islamic State (Mühlhause, Christian 2015: 36; Diehl, J./Gude, H./Schmid, B./Schmid, F.

2015: 42-45). This is just the latest report in a series of Western women deciding to migrate to

the civil war region and leave the comfort of the West, like running water, health care and,

from our Western perspective most importantly, women’s rights behind.

These events all have in common that women more or less voluntarily decide to leave their

Western lifestyle behind, turn to religious extremism and join a terrorist group in a civil war

country. A step rather unbelievable for a Western raised woman or girl. The research interest

therefore is to find out about the motives and roles of these women and the agency within the

jihadi organization. Is this a growing phenomenon or do these misguided women just raise

more public attention, as they do not fit into our stereotypical view of the Islam and “terrorist

groups are able to take advantage of their target societies’ gender prejudices” (Nacos, Brigitte

L. 2005: 448)?

6

3. Analysis

Focus of the analysis are the statements and interviews of Western women who decided to

migrate to the Islamic State. As it is impossible to contact these women in a civil war zone the

analysis relies on interviews, documentaries, and other relevant material those women have

provided to press and news agencies. This will disclose indicators for their decisions and a

base for the compilation of a catalogue of motives and factors that led to the women’s radical

change. A qualitative content analysis (according to Mayring, Philipp 2002: 114-121) is used

for the interpretation of the material whereby several steps will lead to an interpretation of the

footage that was transliterated in a verbatim report for a more detailed analysis (see

Appendix).

3.1 Data Sources

The collection of material as a first step of the content analysis has proven more difficult than

expected, as women in jihadi organizations do not speak in public very often and rather use

social media profiles to convey their (propaganda) messages to others in writing. The last part

of the paper will therefore address this special kind of social networking. For Western

journalists it is almost impossible to get access to jihadi fighters, especially women, which is

why the analysed material is one of a kind and an extremely rare form of insight into the

world of jihadi women from the West.

To guarantee the credibility of statements the analysis relies on spoken word material,

especially one authentic interview from 2013 that is both used for ISIS propaganda and as

proof of Western women participating in the jihad (Channel 4 News 2013). It is a

documentary filmed by Bilal Abdul Kareem, an American journalist who converted to Islam

and lives in Syria to show the reality of the situation of jihadists on the ground from his

perspective. He has become interested in foreign fighters and produced a report for Channel 4,

a British public service broadcaster, and other television networks.

Supporting documents for the later analysis are a telephone interview from 2012 between

news agency Reuter’s reporters and the so-called Jihad Jane (Reuters Investigates 2012),

Colleen La Rose, an American women who converted to Islam and is currently serving a 10-

year sentence in a county jail in Texas for a terror plot against a Swedish cartoonist. Also a

CNN Report on the growing number of female jihadists (CNN 2015) and a CNN interview

7

with a female Syrian defector, who describes the life inside of ISIS (CNN 2014), which

together allow to approach the phenomenon better. Interestingly, the point of higher

emigration of most Western women is dated around mid-2014 (cf. Diehl, J./Gude, H./Schmid,

B./Schmid, F. 2015: 42), while the data source is older and might have induced some women

to their migration.

3.2 Data Interpretation

Channel 4 bases it’s 8:30 min report on British women in jihad on a documentary by

journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem. While a narrator is commenting and giving background

information when necessary, Bilal is heard asking direct questions to the protagonists

Maryam, her husband Abu Bakr and their neighbour Aisha. It is clarified in the beginning of

the report, that these are not the real names of the women, however the man is referred to as

Abu Bakr, which might not be a pseudonym but his real name. The only other persons seen in

the film are Aisha’s daughter and the son of Maryam and Abu Bakr.

The report was screened in July 2013 and probably also recorded that year in a rural Aleppo

province in Syria. Two locations are shown, the first is the house and the area outside of it,

where the three protagonists are living with their families and the second one is at a

supermarket where the women are driving to with their children and the journalist, probably

somewhere more central in the Aleppo province.

The analysis is focused on the two women and what they state about their lives and their roles

in jihad. The real identity of Maryam was revealed in August 2014 when she posted on

Twitter that she would like to be the first woman to kill a UK or US terrorist (Daily Mail

2014). Her real name is Khadijah Dare, a 22-year-old, Non-Muslim born in Lewisham,

London who converted to Islam at the age of 18. In the documentary her English accent is

mixed with Arabic expressions to praise God, or to express that it is God’s will. In her first

sentence she is stating that she does not feel oppressed, and if she would be oppressed she

would not be a Muslim and leave Islam; instead, she emphasizes that Islam has made her free.

A freedom she did not feel in the UK, where she raised hackles when she decided to cover her

face with a veil and people told her to go back to her country. The discrimination and

ignorance of her fellow countrymen probably disappointed the former student of media

studies, film studies, psychology and sociology.

8

The turn away from her Western culture, where she did not fit in anymore, must have seemed

logical although she is missing the food from the UK in her new home. She would want junk

food, cake and other stuff from Western supermarkets, as well as Chinese take-away and her

mom’s food. Interestingly, food is the only thing she is mentioning when she responds to the

question on what she misses in the UK. Her parents seem not as important and are only

brought up when the narrator tells us that they offered money to support the young family in

Syria as her Swedish husband Abu Bakr receives a fighting wage of only 150 Dollars a

month. It can be assumed that foreign fighters get accommodation, food and other subsidies

for their support in the holy war.

Abu Bakr’s mother arranged the marriage, after Maryam arrived in Syria. The reason for her

migration was to marry a man as dedicated to the jihad as herself, someone willing to

sacrifice life for the paradise they will expect in the afterlife. Due to this prospect she was

willing to leave everything behind, her studies and her family in the UK. She describes this as

the end of her selfish life and something necessary to help her brothers and sisters, as they

needed their backing. It is not exactly clear whom she is addressing when she is talking about

the help but she is most likely calling other Westerners up for their support in the jihad, as she

is also mentioning that the time is ticking to liberate the country. Given that she is never

referring to Syria but to “the country” or “land” or just leaving out the local denomination, her

conception of her residence country is not the national state Syria within internationally

accepted borders but the religious Islamic State without any borders.

Her self-righteousness dilutes the perception of reality, she is talking about murder, rape, and

killings done by other people and cannot take in that Muslims are called terrorists even

though her own husband is fighting in a group of Western jihadists which she does not

consider terrorism. It seems that she feels not completely at ease with her status as woman in

the Islamic world. She enjoys firing her Kalashnikov, speeding with her car, and she wears

motorcycle gloves while other women cover their hands with more feminine designs and

argues with her husband about the size of their Kalashnikovs. The viewer does not get her

personal opinion on her role in the jihad but it is said by the narrator that she has settled in her

life at the frontline, she is pregnant with her second child and still supports the jihad. The

narrator in the report reveals that she would like to fight if she could which is also supported

by her tweet (cf. Daily Mail 2014), but “that’s not her role […] she is a mujahed’s wife.

Supporting her husband and showing solidarity with their cause.” Her supporting role as a

fighter by marriage is mentioned as well as her function as a poster girl of the jihad and a

cheerleader for it.

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Her neighbour Aisha also a migrant who arrived only the month before with her family from

the UK appears less confident. She is portrayed as a follower of her husband and although she

is constantly repeating that she and her daughter feel “ok”, her arguments seem implausible

and it was not her initial decision to leave the UK for Syria, her voice is rather halting and she

appears insecure and not used to the lifestyle and the sounds in her new neighbourhood.

Two women, two different profiles, Maryam is portrayed as strong woman who

independently decided to join the jihad while Aisha, from whom not as much information was

available, is depicted as dependent and rather subservient. The constant use of Arabic

expressions in an otherwise completely English conversation illustrates their need for

affiliation in their new environment.

Something similar was monitored in the telephone interview between Reuters and Jihad Jane,

also known as Colleen LaRose (cf. Reuters 2012). She is constantly calling other Muslims her

brothers and sisters and talking in the first person plural as if she identifies herself not as an

individual but as a part of a group. She, as well as Maryam and the Syrian defector (cf. CNN

2014) were contacted and radicalized online. All three of them were promised to find a pious

husband in the organization and two of them set out for the Syrian combat zones while

Colleen got involved in a murder plot. Although their recruitment was almost the same, their

background is very different, Maryam was a Londoner student, the Syrian defector worked as

elementary school teacher and Colleen was a drug-addict and worked as a prostitute before

she became Muslim. Other famous jihadi women like Sally Jones, a middle-aged unhappy

housewife from the UK who turned militant online and moved to Syria with her youngest son,

and a 21-year old British medical student (cf. CNN 2015) are known to a greater audience and

thereby boost the jihadi dogma. Both posted disturbing messages on social media. Sally Jones

is quoted saying that she and her son love life with the beheaders and medical student

Mujabita Bint Usama posted a photo of herself in a white doctor’s coat and black burka

holding a human head and praising the life in Syria. The juxtaposition between the usage of

social media and the promotion of a rather puritanical life in the Islamic State will need

further research.

In the available data, the cruelty of ISIS alienated only the Syrian elementary teacher who was

shocked by the sexual violence, the beheadings and crucifixions in the Islamic State. She fled

from her home country, so why are many Western women still attracted towards it and

voluntarily migrate there?

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3.3 Results

The analysed material reveals distinct insight into the motives and roles of women who decide

to migrate for the jihad.

Most of the discussed women are converts, they decided at one point in their life to become

Muslims and got radicalized soon after that. Most of the time it happened online, in jihadi

social networks, with which they felt more associated with than with their current lives in the

countries they resided in. The homogeneity and acceptance they received there made them

realize their missing social affiliation with their environment. When Western media is looking

into the women’s biographies they find photos of them in tight jeans, high heels, and so on.

The struggle to fit in and develop an individual character is something experienced especially

by teenagers. People, not just women, who have struggles to find their own way, are easy

targets for jihadi networks. In Arabic culture the community is more important than the

individual (cf. Brunner, Claudia 2005: 119) and especially women are disburdened in this

worldview. They have clear defined rules and roles they are obliged to take. For some this is a

form of freedom, a term many of the described women used. It is a freedom from taking

decisions on lifestyle and looks, as well as a protection from others’ judgement. The high

number of young girls joining the jihad confirms this estimation. The ‘outliers’ Colleen

LaRose and Sally Jones can be regarded as equally unsatisfied with their Western life and

probably had not much contact to their peers, which made it easy for jihadi recruiters, to get

them join their group. Group dynamics and peer pressure seem to subordinate political and

religious motivations, as these women do not appear to be very consolidated in their

knowledge about the Quran. They use Arabic expressions and talk about the afterworld but it

sounds indoctrinated and not as if they would have read the Quran or reflected on the content.

This becomes very clear in the interviews with Maryam and Colleen LaRose, of whom both

seem rather worried about their community more than about their religious education. As

already mentioned in the theoretical part, religion is used as an identity marker, as something

to unite the group and not so much as a form of spirituality. Knowledge about foreign policy

and backgrounds of the conflict also do not play a major role in their motivation to migrate.

When looking at these women’s biographies an interesting factor is that the women have very

different educational backgrounds but it appears that they all come from the lower strata of

society. Having a lower social status might make them more prone to jihadi recruitment.

Statistics have shown that characteristics in someone’s biography like their role in the family,

nationality and immigration status also plays an important factor in the decision to join

11

terrorist groups (cf. Khosrokhavar, Farhad 2009: 11). Although most of them travelled to

Syria by themselves, taking the risk of being caught at the border if their final destination

would have been discovered; their goal was to get married or join their husbands. A woman

without male company cannot survive by herself in a patriarchal society for very long as there

are strict rules and codes of conduct for women.2 Therefore the migration type can generally

be described as irregular marriage migration.

The ‘Islamic feminism’, as classified by the three types, can be identified in the data material.

The traditional form can be seen in the example of Maryam and Aisha, who are supportive

wives of jihadi fighters. The second type, logistical help and establishment of sisterhoods, is

verified in the interview with the Syrian defector who was a member of an all-female ISIS-

brigade and in the case of the medical student from the UK who is a self-reported terrorist

doctor. Knowingly or not all these women are supporting the organization with their photos

circulating in the news and social media. Colleen LaRose can be assessed to the third group of

women, the one’s actively fighting or choosing martyrdom. Seen together, these women’s

motivation to migrate is a mix of revenge, redemption, relationship and respect. In their

statements all these factors could be found, although more material would be needed to

identify individual occurrences of the motives. In general rape can be ruled out as a factor or

‘support’ of Western women in the jihad. Western women are highly valued for propaganda

purposes, as they would be put in brothels for the sexual jihad. This does not mean that sexual

violence is ruled out, for example when the husband dies, Western women are handed-off to

the next man and so forth, and no judgment can be rendered in matters of marital relations and

the treatment of Western women in their liaisons, but they are not used as sex slaves like

many other women in Syria and Iraq.

Pertaining to the four functions in which women can become involved in the jihad, the active

theme can be disregarded. Western women do not have the possibilities to be promoted to

leadership functions because of their gender and language barriers. The highest position

possible is to become leader of an all-female brigade like Al-Khanssaa, but these are reserved

for native Arab speakers. The available data did not give any information on Western women

in support functions, but it became obvious that these Women perform caring and ideological

tasks. They are housewives and are active as propagandists in social networks. In that sense

they take typical feminine roles in their jihadi life and use the weapons of a woman to support

2 For more information on the code of conduct for women: Winter, Charlie 2015: Women of the Islamic State. A manifesto on women by the Al-Khanssaa Brigade. Translation and Analysis, in: <http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/publications/free/women-of-the-islamic-state3.pdf>, retrieved on 13.02.2015.

12

the jihad. Public attention in Western media is raised because in most cases they arrive in the

Islamic State as virgins and offer their purity to a holy warrior, get pregnant very soon and

thereby guaranteeing a next generation of jihadi fighters, which then will be raised in the

same ideology (cf. Brunner, Claudia 2005: 113-119). The general findings of this research

clarify that women might not have the same tasks or functions within the jihad but “they are

just as dedicated to the cause as men” (Bloom, Mia 2011: 246).

4. Conclusion

Two major conclusions can be drawn from the research on Western woman and their jihadi

migration. The first is that although the push factors might be similar to those of men’s,

women indeed respond to different pull factors when they decide to migrate to Syria or Iraq.

They are not drawn by the prospect of actual fighting, but they want to became a jihadi wife,

support their husbands, and maybe earn the respect of the community when he dies as martyr.

The second is that these women pose a dangerous threat to Western societies because they

attract followers, men and women, and thereby keep the terrorist movement alive and extend

it. For that reason intelligence services and governmental organizations classify these women

as ‘endangerers’. The fear is that they might return to their countries of origin even more

violent and indoctrinated by the jihadi dogma than before. Although only a small number of

cases were discussed it can be noted that it is a growing trend, especially among female

teenagers, to migrate to Syria and Iraq and online-manuals by other emigrants3 guide these

girls on their travel. They are attracted by a romantic idea of war and a life as a warrior’s

wife, while abandoning their lifestyle for the promise of a better afterlife. Their self-

righteousness and uncritical acceptance of their role as women in jihad impose a danger on

Western societies as they mix their puritan life with technology of the 21st century, which

allows them to communicate their message all over the world. The influence of Western

women has been underestimated far too long, some of them build up a fan base, became the

figurehead of the movement, and have thousands of followers online that crave for their

messages and further distribute them. Governmental institutions have to start at an earlier

point to stop the departure of Western women and men and not just dispossess them of their

travel papers. Online platforms need to be monitored, which is an almost impossible task but

recruiters need to be delegitimized, maybe in similar ways than Eastern European countries 3 Blogs with travel advices: <http://fa-tubalilghuraba.tumblr.com/post/82181535227/diary-of-a-muhajirah>, <http://muhajira.cc>, retrieved on 13.02.2015.

13

try to warn young girls of human traffickers. The life in a war zone, especially for women,

needs to be deglamourized, there is nothing romantic about it and enlightenment about the

situation on the ground is a step in the right direction. Finally, these women need to be

demobilized and put under extensive surveillance in their home countries. They pose a greater

threat than men as they are featured in the press and respective social media more

prominently, as the case studies have shown.

As already stated in the main part of the paper, social media plays an important role in the

recruitment of Western women and their own propaganda networks. Initially it was planned to

examine social media accounts of female jihadists more extensively. In the preparation of the

research paper it became evident that several factors argue against this kind of examination.

On the one hand the authenticity of these accounts cannot completely be verified. Their posts

and account names indicate they are female but this can be a deception to lure more women

into the jihad and keep the male fighters at it. Because of their content many accounts get

suspended and when reactivated under the same or a different name the authorship can have

changed as well. By using a previously popular name and taking over the followers of the

suspended account, the new accounts quickly get immense followers. On the other hand, the

brutality of some of these accounts is one of a kind and not everyone can deal adequately with

these kinds of contents. Especially the juxtaposition of sunsets, kittens and other typical

motives and memes in young girls’ postings and the spread of photos of death and injured

bodies combined with religious messages is exceptional, disturbing and a new form of

communication in terror organizations. This incongruous approach seems to be successful as

more and more women are attracted to the ISIS network that widely makes use of these

channels for their propaganda.

14

Appendix

Transcript 1: British Women joining jihad in Syria (Channel 4 report 2013) http://www.channel4.com/news/syria-rebels-jihad-british-foreign-assad

M: Maryam, N: narrator, A: Abu Bakr, B: Bilal Abdul Kareem, S: Aisha

M: I am not oppressed, if I was oppressed I wouldn’t be a Muslim right now. If I thought

Islam was an oppressive religion I would have left Islam. Islam has made me free. #00:00:40-

2#

N: She’s a poster girl for the Jihad. This young British woman has traded life in London for a

supporting role in the war in Syria. She’s a fighter by marriage. Newly wed to a Jihadi from

Sweden. #00:00:57-1#

M: Praise to God (translation of al-hamd-allah) - I couldn’t find anyone in the UK who was,

you know, willing to just sacrifice their life in this world for the life in the hereafter for best in

the hereafter in fact. Praise to God (translation of al-hamd-allah) that I came here to marry

Abu Bakr. #00:01:17-7#

N: Here is within sight of the frontline in rural Aleppo province. In an abandoned house they

share with the child their raising. Maryam, not here real name, says she’d fight if she could.

But that’s not her role. She says she is a mujahed’s wife. Supporting her husband and showing

solidarity with their cause. He describes for the camera battles fought by the Sunni Jihadi

coalition known as Katibat at-Muhajireen, the (u) of migrants. #00:01:49-7#

A: Yeah, Praise to God (translation of al-hamd-allah), we’ve been put in five battles before,

ehhh, there was the prison and then…(continues talking) #00:01:59-2#

N: The man they call Abu Bakr lists operations, it’s an active fighting force, they fight

alongside bigger Islamic groups, such as Ahrar ash-Sham, and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat

al-Nusra. #00:02:12-6#

15

A: It was a great victory, Praise to God (translation of al-hamd-allah). We got many shahid

(martyrs), but it was a great victory, Praise to God (translation of al-hamd-allah). #00:02:17-

0#

N: This is Syria. Victories, defeats, serious atrocities. President Assad’s forces are fighting

here, taking back territory from groups they regard as terrorists. #00:02:29-1#

A: Now I’m going out again, after dark. #00:02:34-3#

M: To fight? #00:02:36-0#

N: Maryam says she met her husband after coming to Syria for their wedding, arranged by his

mother, earlier this year. On tape she is a cheerleader for the jihad. #00:02:47-8#

M: You have to always attack. You have to liberate the country. #00:02:51-5#

N: Before she came and tried to liberate Syria, Maryam lived relatively comfortably in the

UK. She went to college. #00:02:58-9#

B: What did you study? #00:02:58-9#

M: I studied media studies, film studies, psychology and sociology #00:03:06-2#

N: She is answering the questions of an American convert, who is living among the fighters,

filming them. She tells him, she also converted to Islam four years ago and says adopting the

veil in the UK brought problems. #00:03:20-0#

M: Before I used to wear the face veil like people… it was fine, but when I started to cover

my face people used to say, go back to your country. I used to reply, I was born round the

corner. #00:03:33-3#

(filming of her firing a small arms weapon) #00:03:33-5#

16

N: But now she is 2000 miles away committed to someone else’s civil war. She loses no

opportunity to call for other muslims to follow. #00:03:44-9#

M: These are your brothers and sisters as well and they need our help, so instead of sitting

down and focusing on your families or focusing on your studies you need to stop being selfish

because, Praise to God (translation of al-hamd-allah) the time is ticking. #00:03:55-6#

B: Some people might say, that because of your spirit fight, that you carry a weapon, they

would just automatically classify you and your husband and those who are here, as terrorists.

#00:04:15-9#

M: We haven’t invaded any land. Taken their houses, their food, raping their women, killing

their men, we haven’t done that. The Muslims haven’t done that. The Muslims have not done

that. It’s the people that have come to us that have done that. And yet we are called the

terrorists. #00:04:31-2#

(night scene of fights -> sounds and lights of shooting) #00:04:31-6#

N: By night, the fight is visible from the rooftop. And downstairs they hear it as well.

Maryam’s neighbor Aisha lives on the ground floor. She’s also from the UK, with a young

daughter and married to a British fighter. While their men fight, the two women and their

children go shopping, and they’re taking their Kalashnikovs just in case. #00:05:01-7#

M: What did I say I needed? Hummus, nappies, a bucket? #00:05:10-7#

S: We’ll try to get the fresh hummus this time, God willing (translation of inshallah).

#00:05:11-7#

M: God willing (translation of inshallah). #00:05:18-3#

#00:05:26-6#

B: Sister, can you just like slow down a little bit. Cause I have some trouble maintaining my

balance… #00:05:35-1#

17

N: Maryam wears gloves for modesty, but designed for speed. She says the gloves the other

sisters wear are too feminine. #00:05:44-8#

(In the supermarket) #00:05:44-8#

B: What do you miss from the UK? #00:05:44-8#

M: Food #00:05:46-9#

B: What kind of food? #00:05:50-1#

M: The junk food, the cakes and stuff from the supermarket. The Chinese take-away. My

mom’s food. #00:05:58-8#

N: Her parents know she is in Syria, she says. But don’t know the truth of her situation. She

says, her father has offered to send money. Her husband earns a fighting wage of no more

than 150 Dollars a month. Her neighbor Aisha, again not her real name, arrived more recently

than Maryam, she’s only been here a month. She followed her husband from the UK, when he

had the idea to join the jihad. #00:06:22-4#

B: So when he came home and said, honey we’re going to Syria. What did you say?

#00:06:28-0#

S: Ah, it wasn’t quite like that, but he’d actually, he said he wanted to come here and maybe

have a look, maybe come back to England and then, maybe we could both come together, but

when he did come here, he decided to stay basically, so….yeah, I was a bit, maybe a little bit

unhappy about that, but praise to God (translation of al-hamd-allah) it’s ok. #00:06:53-9#

B: What about your daughter and how has she adjusted to being here? #00:06:58-1#

S: I think children adapt really quickly. So she’s been ok. First few days, you know, she

would say she wants to go back home, she wants to go to England, but now she’s ok, Praise to

God (translation), I think she loves it, you know, loves being outdoors and being able to just

play really, she’s ok now. #00:07:20-2#

18

N: Maryam and Abu Bakr aren’t looking back, they’re planning for a visit from his parents.

They’ve settled into frontline life where they compare his and her Kalashnikovs. #00:07:34-

2#

A: My Kalash is better than yours #00:07:34-2#

M: No it’s not #00:07:35-2#

A: Yes it is. Do you know why? #00:07:37-0#

M: Hmm? #00:07:37-0#

A: Because it’s got the wood stock. #00:07:39-3#

M: Mmmm. Mine is smaller. #00:07:41-0#

A: Yes, that’s for going to shops, and this is for the fight. #00:07:47-0#

M: Yeah, but when I’m shooting my one it’s better than shooting your one. It feels more

comfortable. #00:07:52-3#

N: They have traded everything they had for the jihad. Maryam says she has no plans ever to

return to the UK, even when her husband becomes a shahid. Meaning, he is killed. She is

committed to a future that begins in Syria. #00:08:04-9#

A: Yeah, my wife is, praise to god (translation of al-hamd-allah), she is pregnant now, five

weeks now, so God willing (translation of inshallah) I get to see the baby before I get shahada

(killed). (laughs) That’s what I really want to see. Ahh, but, praise to god (translation of al-

hamd-allah), I’m really happy that she is pregnant and God willing (translation of inshallah) it

will be a boy. #00:08:26-6#

M: God willing (translation of inshallah). #00:08:29-0#

19

N: Already looking to the next generation to take on the family jihad.

Transcript 2: Jihad Jane’s first interview (Reuters interview 2012)

http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/12/09/reuters-tv-exclusive-jihad-jane-in-her-own-

words?videoId=239757143&videoChannel=117777

I: Interviewer, JJ: Jihad Jane (Collen LaRose)

On becoming a Muslim

JJ: I was talking to this brother online. #00:00:02-5#

I: Aha. #00:00:03-0#

JJ: And he was telling me about Islam. And I told him that I don’t have a particular religion,

but that I believe in God and that I fairly have…He told me that’s the way the Muslims are

too. #00:00:13-1#

I: Mmmh. #00:00:13-2#

JJ: And he was telling me all kinds of…He was always telling me this and this what we have

to do to be a Muslim. And about how we pray and how we supposed to do voodoo. And

ohm…he told me all kinds of things like that. And after I talked to him for a couple of weeks,

I decided I wanted to convert to Islam. I was at the Instant Messenger #00:00:35-9#

I: Yah. #00:00:35-5#

JJ: And I said my shahada. And then…I didn’t quite thought, I didn’t realize that this first

time that this was my shahada. And then I was talking to a brother in Saudi Arabia. And I told

him I want to take my shahada. He gave me the words to say and I said it and then he asked

me if I wanted to change my name and I told him, yah. He gave me a list of names and I

chose Fatima. #00:00:57-6#

20

I: What was going through your mind when you converted to Islam? What were you

thinking? #00:01:00-4#

JJ: That I was finally going to be some place where I belonged. #00:01:04-0#

I: Mhmm. #00:01:05-4#

JJ: I thought like this would…I’ve survived through a lot of things that rightfully should have

killed me. #00:01:12-4#

I: Mhmm. #00:01:12-7#

JJ: I always thought there was a purpose for me to be alive. And when I found out about Islam

I thought this is what I have to do, this is why I've lived so long. #00:01:20-0#

I: What kind of feeling came over you after you converted? #00:01:22-0#

JJ: I had just a real happy feeling, like I was ehmm, finally were I belong. When I first

converted to Islam I didn’t take it seriously for about the first year or around the first six

month of the year #00:01:35-8#

I: Ahh. #00:01:36-1#

On becoming radicalized

JJ: And then I radicalized in Texas. Then I came back from Texas and I was talking to more

brothers and sisters online, meeting more brothers and sisters outside, learning more and more

about Islam. And then in the middle of learning that or in the beginning of learning about

Islam, I read the Zionists are bombing the Palestinians. #00:01:53-9#

I: Mmmh. #00:01:54-7#

21

JJ: And I became, ehm I get radical then. And I quit learning more about Islam and instead

learning more about Jihad. I was watching Al-Jazeera and they were showing live-time how

they were killing…bombing the Ummah (community). And Allah, the brothers and sisters…I

remember I was sitting on my couch. And I was sitting in front of a window. And I was

online and I was watching and I was crying. And at the same time I could hear the kids

downstairs, from the apartment, outside, in the streets, playing and laughing, and I thought to

myself how unfair it was, that all these other children were dying and being killed and nobody

was watching those kids, nobody cared. #00:02:33-1#

On trusting an al-Qaeda operative

I felt like he has already proven himself by…by being on the run and not being able to go

home to his family and then I haven’t heard from him in ehm… One time he called about four

months I haven’t heard from him and I thought that maybe he was dead and then I finally

heard from him and I guess he was (u) safe house and he couldn’t get on a computer. And

then I asked, I told him, What can I do for you? I wanna do something for you. And he said,

for me, just being members or brothers with my ummah. I told him, I do that already but just

tell me more I can do for you, I wanna do more for you. Money? I said, ok, I’m gonna try to

get some money. And that’s when the FBI first came and contacted me. #00:03:16-6#

I talked to them so much online and I just felt like they were strong brothers, they were very

religious. And I mean, I just felt love for them. I don’t know…I felt so much…I love my

brothers so much, when they would tell me something I would listen to them no matter what.

#00:03:35-2#

On being raped by her father

It is hard to believe, I was just a little girl. I was like seven or eight years old. And…I

mean…I mean that’s just like two years that’s five. And five is just a baby-baby. #00:03:50-

1#

I: How much do you think ehm… your dad had affected your life? #00:03:56-4#

22

JJ: I think…a lot…it has….because I have done all kinds of bad things. And I think (u) to

rebelling because of what he did and also because of the fact that my mother didn’t do

anything to help us…..That’s what I think. And I mean…I did…it caused me to do a lot of

things I shouldn’t…it did drugs, prostitution, all kinds of stuff…. #00:04:23-3#

Transcript 3: Are female jihadis a growing threat? (CNN Report 2015)

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/01/10/ac-pkg-kaye-female-jihadis.cnn

R: reporter, N: news presenter

R: Look closely. The Jihadist behind the veil is a mother of two. Her name used to be Sally

Jones but after she converted to Islam, she reportedly changed it to Sakina Hew Seen.

#00:00:11-8#

This photo with the AK 47 (picture shown) is a far cry from this one from 2004 published in

the Daily Mail. #00:00:18-4#

It shows her celebrating the birth of her new baby (showing other photo with baby and former

partner). Now she is believed to be an ISIS fighter in Syria. She moved there from the UK

after meeting a hacker turned militant online. #00:00:29-8#

She told the London Times that her youngest child is with her too. And that he’s taken the

Muslim name Humsa. She was widely quoted online saying, „my son and I love life with the

beheaders. #00:00:42-4#

This Jihadist (showing photo of woman with veil and blacked out part) is also from Britain.

She’s reportedly a 21-year-old medical student who goes by the name Mujabita Bint Usama.

#00:00:51-6#

On Twitter she posted this disturbing image: A woman in a white doctor’s coat and black

burka holding a human head. #00:00:59-2#

The posting read: Dream Job…A Terrorist Doc and included a smiley face and love hearts. In

other postings she reportedly praised Yemeni cleric Anmur Al-Awlaki and shared images of

the execution by ISIS of US journalist Stephen Sotloff. #00:01:16-2#

N: In Septemer terror analysts estimated that as many as 15% of ISIS’ foreign recruits could

be female. #00:01:23-5#

23

With up to 200 women from at least 14 different countries. #00:01:26-9#

Experts say the women are motivated by the idea of meeting a Jihadist husband. They’re

hoping for the prestige that comes with husbands who die as martyrs. #00:01:36-9#

R: Long before ISIS the Israeli-Palestinian conflict also gave rise to female terrorists,

including this grandmother (showing photo of armed woman). #00:01:45-7#

She tried to blow up Israeli soldiers in Gaza in 2006 but died after detonating explosives in

her belt. #00:01:53-5#

Her family reportedly said: She wanted to become a martyr. #00:01:57-2#

And what about this woman (photo of blond woman)? Colleen La Rose who goes by the

name Jihad Jane after converting to Islam online. #00:02:04-8#

She travelled to Europe in 2009. Part of a plot to shoot and kill Swedish artist Lars Vilks.

#00:02:10-6#

After he depicted the head of the Muslim prophet Mohammed on a dog. #00:02:16-0#

She was arrested after returning to Philadelphia. La Rose was sentenced last January to ten

years in prison. #00:02:23-2#

All women (showing before mentioned photos of women) are looking for making a name for

themselves in martyrdom and the list is growing. #00:02:28-9#

Transcript 4: Defector describes life inside ISIS (CNN Interview 2014)

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2014/10/06/pkg-damon-isis-female-defector.cnn

I: Interviewer, H: Hadisha

I: Beneath the veil is a young, heart shaped face. Eyes filled with guilt and turmoil. Under

perfectly sculpted brows. #00:00:14-7#

H: At the start I was happy, I was carrying a gun, it was something new. I had authority. I

didn’t think I was frightening people. But then I started asking myself, where am I? Where am

I going? I could feel the ties dragging me some place ugly. #00:00:31-0#

I: 25-year old Hadisha, not her real name, is a former elementary school teacher. Turned

member of feared female ISIS Khansaa brigade in Raqqa. #00:00:41-0#

24

H: We patrolled the streets, if we saw a woman who was not wearing the proper sharia

clothing, we grab her, sometimes they’d be lashed. #00:00:50-7#

I: She speaks longingly of the start of the Syrian revolution. The elation of being a part of

something great. But then came the violence. Displacing her family multiple times.

#00:01:06-8#

H: Everything around us was chaos, Free Syrian Army, regime, barrel bombs, strikes,

wounded, clinics, blood, you wanna tear yourself away. To find something to run to. My

problem was I ran away to something uglier. I ran away to people this Tunisian, who lured me

to the Islamic State. #00:01:28-2#

I: They met online, when curiosity drew her to ISIS Social media pages. He told her that he

was coming to Raqqa. That they could even get married. So she convinced her family to move

there. Her cousin Umma Abdullah was already married to an ISIS fighter and member of the

Khansaa brigade. #00:01:46-6#

H: Umm Abdullah took me to the brigade’s headquarters in the Siahy hotel in Raqqa. She

introduced me to the commander Umm Rayan, She had a very strong personality. Her

features were very sharp. She gave you the sense that she was a leader not an ordinary

woman. #00:02:04-9#

I: Umm Rayan is Tunisian. But it is Umm Hamsa, a Syrian, who is in charge of carrying out

the lashings. #00:02:13-3#

H: She’s female but she is not a normal females. She is huge, she has a AK, a pistole, a whip,

a dagger and she wears the niqab. #00:02:26-7#

I: In the same building as the brigade’s headquarters is an office specializing in arranged

marriages for the foreign fighters and in many cases forced marriages. #00:02:35-0#

H: The foreigners are very brutal with women. Even the ones they marry, there were cases

where the wife had to be taken to the emergency ward because of the violence, the sexual

violence. #00:02:48-2#

25

I: Burned into her mind, this horrific image she saw online of a crucified teenager accused of

rape. It’s not the only sight plaguing her dreams. #00:02:59-8#

H: The worst thing I saw was a man getting his head hacked off, right in front of me.

#00:03:04-2#

I: Then her commander Umm Rayan said, she found her a Saudi husband. #00:03:09-9#

H: I said enough. After everything I had already seen and all the times I had stayed silent

telling myself, we’re at war and then when it’s over it will all be rectified. But after this, I

decided no, I have to leave. #00:03:27-8#

I: This is the first time, she tells anyone her story. She escaped just before the US led coalition

air strikes began. Her family also fled Raqqa but are still in Syria. She just probably wants to

be her old self. #00:03:40-6#

H: A girl who is happy, who loves life and laughter, I wanna be like that again.

26

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http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/publications/free/women-of-the-

islamic-state3.pdf


Zeit online 2015: Hayat Boumeddiene in Syrien vermutet (10. Jan. 2015), in:

http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2015-01/paris-polizei-fahndung-hayat-boumeddiene


New Faces of Terror? Western Women and Jihadi Migration

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