Description
Terrorism studies are a male generated field. The perpetrators, practitioners and victims are usually male. There can be occasional female victims but they are small in number. As terrorist organizations evolve their recruitment methods change. More women become terrorists. The literature concerning women terrorists, why they join and become suicide bombers is still limited. This in itself is a bias why don’t academics study the causes of women joining terrorist organizations? Do they defect easily, can they de-radicalize or are they stubborn in leaving their line of duty. What are the consequences of women terrorists leaving their organization? Are their recruitment, training and place in the hierarchy any different from the men? This paper hopes to shed light on these and other questions. The first part of this paper will give a brief introduction to gender and terrorism studies. The second part of the paper will examine case studies involving women terrorists and how they contribute to terrorism in general. Finally, the last part will portray how the involvement of women and their inclusion into political violence can create a different perspective in terrorism studies.
Keywords
Critical Terrorism Studies; Terrorism; Women and Terrorism
