Just like Boumeddiene Hayat, the companion of Amedy Coulibaly, author of the hostage kosher supermarket in Paris, they are becoming more numerous, to join the ranks of jihad. Women, often very young, Western or not.
A phenomenon that was a surprise, as radical Islamists such as the Islamic State group are more known for their hatred of women, and their aversion to see them take arms.
And despite the propaganda videos, which shows women handle them, few of them are actually recruited to be combatants.
In the West, regimentation is mainly through the Internet. We promise the girls a better life, money. They often have no idea of the real role they will play and once there, the "brainwashing" starts up.
Johnathan's sister, Minor, left Syria. "She did not say she was disappointed, she says she is where she is, she will not go back, apparently, everything is beautiful there. I do not know, I do not understand, I understand ... "he says.
Difficult to counter the phenomenon with the rise of social networks and groups like the EI perfectly handle these tools. For them, the recruitment of women has two major advantages: ensure generational succession: these women will do children raised in that environment, and encourage men to commit.
Feminization of terrorism is not new. Female suicide bombers have long existed. Palestinian particular, but also Chechen like those, many who had shown in 2002 at the Dubrovka theater in Moscow.
But the worsening phenomenon is short and worries Westerners while a young women recruitment network for the Islamic State has just been dismantled in Spain
Mia Bloom: regimentation and trivialization
Joanna Gill, euronews:
To talk about these West joining the jihadists, I'm with Mia Bloom, a specialist in security issues at the University of Massachusetts and author of "Bombshell: the many faces of women terrorists." Thank you for joining us. Currently, we see well-educated young West oppose the conflict in Syria by joining the Islamic State. What pushes them towards extremism? Do they have the same reasons as men?
Mia Bloom, a specialist in security issues at the University of Massachusetts:
I am studying this phenomenon for over twenty years, to try to understand their motivations ... There is not much difference between men and women. Very often it is said that women are motivated by emotional or a desire for revenge, while men seem to be motivated by ideology, religion or politics. What I have observed is that during their life, men and women act for these reasons, but perhaps at different levels in time.
euronews:
Western Young girls are often regimented online, in their room. You compared the process to that of sexual predators. Can you tell us more? "
Mia Bloom:
Just as children are gradually trapped by sexual predators, we see that with the Islamic State, these young people are first used with dolls beheadings, and with movies real beheadings up they will attend themselves there. There is thus a desensitization process: at the beginning, it is to build trust, a relationship, a decoy. These girls who are 14, 15, 16 years have not been addressed by a man of 30 years, they are approached by a young cool girl, 20, with whom they are related and they drop their defenses, is again very typical of online indoctrination process.
euronews:
The IE is much use of social networks to recruit. How does it differ from other extremist groups? "
Mia Bloom:
Well, IE uses social online content and networks more elaborately to al Qaeda or the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. All these groups very well controlled internet. But the current fabric of social networks is much more interactive, there are many more interface is much more sophisticated, and of course, much is in English, to reach a UK public, with references to youth platforms like Twitter and Facebook ... These are relatively new tools, compared to platforms used before by al Qaeda.
euronews:
There was this English translation of a document of EI on the internet posing as a manifesto for women. It emphasizes the role of women in society through their power to give life. This romantic notion of motherhood she reflects the reality of life with the IE?
Mia Bloom:
The reason why this document was not intended for a UK public is that it is contrary to the version "Disney", the idealized version of the IC portrayed for women, when speaking Women of the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, saying, "it's a wonderful life here, come, we will look after you, you will have an exciting life, and you make your contribution," then the Arabic document clearly states: "You're going to be married, you probably will not leave your home, but you can do more in the caliphate by staying in your home societies.
euronews:
How can Westerners counter such propaganda?
Mia Bloom:
For example, I saw on Twitter a British jihadist who said: "I went there to be a hero and a martyr, and they made me clean the toilets." This is one of the things you have to think with these foreign fighters coming back, and that concern us both. Perhaps, these individuals may be disappointed to go public, talk to people who are about to start, and at least cast doubt.
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