Gender in the jihad: Characteristics and outcomes among women and men involved in jihadism-inspired terrorism.

Abstract

There has been relatively limited empirical investigation of the characteristics and activities of women involved in jihadism-inspired terrorism. To address this knowledge gap, we describe demographic characteristics, criminal history, organizational involvement, plot involvement, and foreign fighting of 405 women involved in jihadisminspired terrorism. We also perform comparative analyses with a subgroup of women (n ϭ 272) matched to a sample of male terrorists (n ϭ 266). Women involved in jihadism-inspired terrorism were diverse in their ethnicities and countries of citizenship; the majority were legal, native residents of their countries. Most had completed at least high school; about half had no recent employment. Women rarely had criminal histories. Most women were linked to at least one terrorist organization, but were not often involved in plots. About half of the women attempted to engage in foreign fighting. Compared to men, women were more often born in 1990 or later, more likely to have no recent profession, and had significantly fewer crimes prior to radicalization. We found no differences on education or criminal activity after radicalization. Compared to men, women were more often associated with at least one organization and less likely to be involved in plots. Women were more likely to attempt foreign fighting at least once and were more often successful on their first attempt. We did not find differences on age of radicalization or age of first foreign fighting attempt. Implications for research, policy, and practice include the need for gender-informed theories of radicalization, threat assessment, and other counterterrorism strategies. Public Significance StatementThe present study reveals differences in the backgrounds of women and men involved in jihadism-inspired terrorism, suggesting different pathways into terrorism. We further find differences in women's and men's terrorism-related outcomes, demonstrating that some types of terrorist activity are likely to vary by gender.

Understanding youth radicalisation: an analysis of Australian data

“…This draws attention to the active role women play in the radicalisation process (Bloom & Lokmanoglu, 2020;Neve et al, 2020), and how they can act as an important mechanism of social control and bonding (key criminological concepts) to create greater devotion to the extremist cause. This is something that is central to the jihadist recruitment tactic, which sees females as important to sustaining the extremist movement and motivating devolution and commitment amongst radicalised males (Bakker et al, 2015;Bloom & Lokmanoglu, 2020;Brugh et al, 2019;Neve et al, 2020;Phelan, 2020).…”

Exploring female involvement in acts of terrorism and mass shootings: a systematic review

“…Such findings could be deduced as highlighting an increase in females being recruited to terrorist organisations in the last three decades, a hypothesis which has been noted in previous research (e.g., Cunningham, 2007). Despite this, there is an inconsistency between findings in relation to age of radicalisation, between the two papers reviewed which examined this characteristic (e.g., Brugh et al, 2019;Jacques & Taylor, 2012). One potential reason for the lack in clarity in this finding could be the wide range of organisations examined in Jacques and colleagues, whereas Brugh and colleagues focused only on organisations allied to extremist jihadism.…”

“…Specifically, 13 discussed female involvement in terrorist organisations (Messing & Heeren, 2004;Blee, 2005;Nacos, 2005;Cunningham, 2007;Jacques & Taylor, 2009;Jacques & Taylor, 2012;Gonzalez et al, 2014;Cruise, 2016;Sawicki, 2016;Gurian, 2018;Brugh et al, 2019;Felthous et al, 2019;Wickham et al, 2020) and one discussed female mass shooters (Katsavdakis et al, 2011). Only four of these studies (Jacques & Taylor, 2009;Jacques & Taylor, 2012;Gurian, 2018;Brugh et al, 2019) empirically investigated the individual characteristics and demographics associated with females who either planned or completed such acts. The remaining papers were either reviews, theoretical evaluations or case study discussions of female involvement in acts of extreme violence.…”

“…Female Involvement in Terrorist Organisations: Comparative Characteristics based on Gender Two studies were identified in this review which used comparative analysis to explore female involvement in terrorist organisations compared to male counterparts (Jacques & Taylor, 2012;Brugh et al, 2019). In the first, Jacques and Taylor (2012) results suggest that across organisations there are specific risk factors associated with females who become actively involved with and commit acts of terror.…”

“…For example, some of the studies identified and included in the review did not specifically examine characteristics exclusive to female mass shooters, however evaluation of gender differences was discussed and were therefore deemed as valuable to this review (e.g., Brugh et al, 2019;Gurian, 2018).…”