WUNRN
Bridgewater State University
Journal of International Women’s Studies
EVOLVING ROLE OF WOMEN IN TERROR GROUPS: PROGRESSION OR REGRESSION
S.V. Raghavan1, V. Balasubramaniyan2
Direct Link to Full 15-Page 2014 Text:
http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1761&context=jiws
Abstract
Historically, women have been victims to a much greater degree than perpetrators of
violence. However, the 1970s witnessed the emergence of women as important protagonists in
the conflicts across the world. Recent years have witnessed suicide attacks perpetrated by women
suicide bombers. This growing trend of women bombers has the general public and
counterterrorism specialists concerned because of its implication that women will be key players
in future terrorist attacks.
Women’s role in terrorist organisations have also transformed since 1970s.Women across
the ideological spectrum played different roles at different times. The use of women for “soft
tasks” like logistics and recruitment gradually started to change in the mid-1980s when they
started playing a much more visible frontline role. A woman taking up a suicide bombing role
diverges significantly and is far more dangerous than their traditional activity of playing
logisticians, recruiters or even a frontline role. This paper scrutinizes this change.
There are multi causal issues which drive women to join terrorism and more so as suicide
bombers. Psychological, economic, political, religious and sociological factors can act as
contributors to understanding the causes that drive women towards terrorism.
This paper attempts to highlight the role played by women in various terrorist
organisations around the world. It also tries to bring out the factors which influence women to
participate in terrorist acts. It aims to bring out the above facts by analysing various groups
which have women cadre. Previous studies in the same realm have focused on a particular group
or a conflict whereas this paper attempts to examine female participation across multiple
conflicts in different groups driven by different ideology, which provides a clear insight into the
multi causal factors which are responsible for this trend. The methodology followed is a
descriptive one wherein the analysis is conducted on information derived from published
secondary data.
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