Women in militant Islamism 21 March 2012

Summary On a global scale, female militant Islamists play a significant and presumably increasing

role

as

regards

terrorist-related

activities

such

as

propaganda,

radicalisation, terrorist financing and, to some extent, planning and execution of terrorist attacks. However, the West has only seen few examples of women being directly involved in terrorist attacks. In 2009 and 2010, there were two cases in Western countries of women planning and carrying out an attack, respectively. Furthermore, women have been seen to carry out suicide bomb attacks in several instances in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Chechnya and Russia. Women are particularly active on militant Islamist Internet forums and in chat rooms and consequently play a significant role in terms of spreading propaganda. Although the majority of militant Islamist propaganda encourages passive, nonmilitant support from women, there are also cases where women are incited to participate actively in militant activities. CTA assesses that new tendencies within the field of terrorism, including an increased focus on solo terrorism, may result in more women potentially feeling inspired to carry out terrorist-related activities against the West. Nevertheless, CTA sees no indications that female militant Islamists are posing a distinct threat to Denmark.

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1. Introduction On a global scale, female militant Islamists play a significant and presumably increasing role as regards terrorist-related activities. Women have historically been active in left-wing, ethnic or separatist militant groups such as the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF) in Germany and the Basque separatist group (ETA) in Spain. Militant Islamist groups, on the other hand, have traditionally been male-dominated. Since the late 1990’s, however, women have participated actively in groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Chechen groups, and over the past ten years, female participation in terrorist-related activities has spread to include the global alQaida-inspired militant Islamism. The purpose of this analysis is to describe female militant Islamists as a phenomenon with a view to assessing the threat to the West, including Denmark. 2. Examples of female militant Islamists in the West Until now, the West has only seen few examples of women being directly involved in the planning and execution of terrorist attacks, but in 2009 and 2010 there were two cases of women planning and carrying out an attack, respectively. In one case, the American convert Colleen LaRose was arrested in the United States in October 2009 and charged with planning to assassinate the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks because of his drawing depicting the Prophet with the body of a dog. LaRose, who was known on the Internet as "Jihad Jane" and "Fatima LaRose", was further charged with a number of other counts, including the recruitment of other women through the Internet. This recruitment was aimed at women with valid travel documents who were able to travel around Europe. In early February 2011, LaRose confessed to having planned to assassinate Lars Vilks. The other case took place in May 2010 in the United Kingdom when a young woman by the name of Roshonara Choudhry attacked British Member of Parliament Stephen Timms with a knife. It later became known that she committed the assassination attempt because of Timms’ support for the British military involvement in Iraq. In addition, Choudhry had been inspired by the lectures of the now late, prominent American-Yemeni ideologist Anwar al-Awlaki, although she acted without affiliation to militant Islamist networks. In November 2010, she was sentenced to imprisonment for life. Choudhry's act was since used by al-Awlaki and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) for purposes of propaganda as the group referred to the attack in it's January 2011 issue of the English-language Internet magazine Inspire: ”A woman has shown Page 2 of 6

to the ummah’s men the path of jihad! A woman my brothers! Shame on all the men for sitting on their hands while one of our women has taken up the individual jihad!” In his statement “Western Jihad is Here to Stay” from 2010, Anwar al-Awlaki pointed out that the LaRose case highlights the meaningless task for security authorities in attempting to profile terrorists as she was far from the typical image of a terrorist: female, white, blonde and middle-aged. CTA assesses that through their praise of female Islamists, al-Awlaki and AQAP may contribute to maximising the propaganda effect of recent terrorist cases with individuals acting more or less on their own. 3. Female suicide bombers in non-Western countries There are several examples from other parts of the world where women have been directly involved in carrying out terrorist attacks. The first known example of a female suicide bomber was in Lebanon in 1985 when a woman from a Syrian secular organisation attacked an Israeli military patrol. In Iraq, the first suicide attack carried out by a woman was in 2003, and until 2008, Iraqi women have formed an increasing part of the suicide bombers who have carried out attacks in the country. In November 2005, the Belgian woman Muriel Degauque – a convert to Islam – carried out a suicide attack in Iraq. Degauque detonated a bomb in a vehicle, killing only her while an American soldier was slightly wounded. So far, Degauque is the only example of a European or other Western female carrying out a suicide attack. Before the war in Iraq, female suicide bombers were mainly a phenomenon known from left-wing or separatist rebel groups such as the Tamil Tigers and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as well as Chechen and Palestinian groups. Female Chechen suicide bombers, the so-called “black widows”, are responsible for several terrorist attacks in Russia, including two almost simultaneous suicide attacks on board two airplanes in Russia in 2004 in which approximately 90 people were killed, and most recently the suicide attacks in the Moscow metro on 29 March 2010 in which more than 40 people were killed. Women were also among the hostage takers in the Dubrovka Theatre in Moscow in 2002 and in a school in Beslan in North Ossetia in 2004. The majority of known female suicide bombers have suffered a personal loss such as loss of their husband. These women may therefore be driven by a desire for revenge or feelings of desperation as they are caught in a difficult situation with no provider and in social isolation. There are also examples of women who have been persuaded into carrying out a suicide attack by extremist acquaintances and examples of Page 3 of 6

mentally retarded women who have been used as suicide bombers. Such examples are few but have received a lot of media coverage. The use of female suicide bombers should possibly be seen in the context that in certain countries it is culturally unacceptable for men to body search women. Combined with the traditional view of women as non-violent, this makes it easier for women to operate without arousing suspicion, e.g. when making purchases for the purpose of terrorist activities, acting as couriers or approaching a checkpoint in order to carry out an attack. Male suicide bombers have previously used the Muslim floorlength woman’s dress as a disguise. In recent years, there have been reports that the Taliban is training female suicide bombers, and in June 2010, for the first time, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack carried out by a woman in Afghanistan. In December 2010, a female suicide bomber was also responsible for a serious terrorist attack in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) where nearly 45 people were killed and 100 were injured. This was the first suicide attack in Pakistan carried out by a woman. In October 2011, the Taliban claimed responsibility for another suicide attack in Afghanistan, which was the seventh suicide attack carried out by a woman in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 4. The various roles of women in militant Islamism Female militant Islamists are generally active within a number of different areas such as propaganda activities, radicalisation, terrorist financing and facilitation of various kinds. Women are particularly active on militant Islamist Internet forums and in chat rooms. One factor is that women can participate in debates on the Internet more freely and anonymously than in the physical world. Therefore, women play an important role in terms of spreading propaganda via the Internet. Extremist women who have grown up in the West often take on a more visible and active role than women from conservative Muslim countries. One example is the Belgian Malika el-Aroud who, in 2007, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in Switzerland for running a website which was spreading militant Islamist material on the Internet. In 2008, el-Aroud was arrested in Belgium on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack in Belgium, and in May 2010, she was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for establishing, leading and financing a terrorist group. The other example is the German Filiz Gelowicz who, in March 2011, was sentenced to two years and six months' imprisonment for supporting a terrorist network financially and propaganda-wise.

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In recent years, an increasing number of Internet sites and electronic magazines have been aimed directly at female Muslims, including the online magazine al-Shamikha which the al-Qaida-affiliated media distribution centre al-Fajr Media Center has published in March 2011 and February 2012, respectively. The two issues of the magazine deal with subjects such as Sharia law, child-rearing and the role as wife to a husband who is engaged in holy war according to the al-Qaida ideology. Al-Shamikha also features non-ideological articles on the home, beauty and “how to find the right husband”. Al-Qaida and militant Islamist propaganda mainly describe the female role as nonmilitant and passive, and the al-Qaida Senior Leadership has, for instance, never publicly incited women to participate actively in the fight. On the contrary, the message is that women should raise their sons to become warriors and support their husbands on the home front. Direct encouragement of women to participate physically in militant activities does occur, although on a smaller scale. For instance, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, former leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, has openly applauded female suicide bombers. CTA assesses that the extent of this type of encouragement is growing. On militant Internet forums there are also ongoing discussions regarding the female role, including posts from women who would also like the opportunity to participate physically in militant activities. The public praise of female militants by al-Awlaki and AQAP is an example of how a pragmatic approach may cause Islamist groups to deviate from their otherwise conservative view on gender roles. 5. Conclusion Although it is still mainly men who are involved in militant Islamist terrorist activities, there has been an increase in the number of women involved. In recent years, suicide attacks carried out by women have also spread to Afghanistan and Pakistan. CTA assesses that terrorist groups and networks will increasingly see an advantage in using women for planning, facilitation, communication and, potentially, execution of terrorist attacks despite a conservative view on women and traditional messages concerning the passive and supportive female role. CTA assesses that the emphasis placed upon Western examples of female militant Islamists in a propaganda context may affect other radicalised women in the West. CTA assesses that new tendencies within the field of terrorism, including an increased focus on solo terrorism, may result in more women potentially feeling inspired to carry out terrorist-related activities against the West.

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Nevertheless, CTA sees no indications that female militant Islamists are posing a distinct threat to Denmark.

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