Abstract
ISIL’s declared goals of conquest and the imposition of its form of Islamic law to build a new society requires the group to recruit significant numbers of men and women. In its attempts to recruit foreign men, women and children, ISIL employs highly gendered narratives which exploit cleavages between potential recruits and their home countries, characterise the Syrian Civil War as a war against Muslims and ‘true’ Islam, promise that recruits will fulfil idealised roles as ‘real men’ and ‘real women’, and offer them a central role in building a new society where they no longer face discrimination and abuse and live a ‘holier’ life. This chapter privileges gender in its analysis of ISIL recruitment strategies and narratives targeting foreigners and the experiences of males and females upon entering ISIL. The insights garnered are important for both counter-terrorism and anti-radicalisation efforts.
Dallin Van Leuven is a graduate of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.
Dyan Mazurana, PhD is Associate Research Professor at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Research Director at the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University.
Rachel Gordon is a Researcher at the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University.
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Notes
- 1.
E Schmitt ‘In Battle to Defang ISIS, US Targets Its Psychology’, The New York Times, 28 December 2014.
- 2.
Ibid.
- 3.
- 4.
See Chap. 20 by Paulussen and Entenmann in this volume.
- 5.
See Chap. 10 by Heinsch in this volume.
- 6.
See Chap. 14 by de Guttry in this volume.
- 7.
ICRC, Volume 1, Chapter 1, Rule 6.
- 8.
See Chap. 11 by Capone in this volume.
- 9.
Bakker and de Leede 2015.
- 10.
Wood 2015.
- 11.
See also Chap. 5 by Frenett and Silverman in this volume.
- 12.
Hoyle et al. 2015, pp. 11–13.
- 13.
A Barnard ‘By Inserting Itself Into Syrian War, Hezbollah Makes Historic Gamble’, The New York Times, 27 May 2013.
- 14.
For a good overview of such groups, see J Fortin ‘Divided, We Fight: A Primer On Syrian Opposition Groups’, International Business Times, 27 February 2013.
- 15.
Wood 2015.
- 16.
Wood 2015.
- 17.
Lahoud 2014, p. 781.
- 18.
Abdullah 2002.
- 19.
Zaidi 2009, p. 30.
- 20.
Al-Bahri 2014.
- 21.
Lahoud 2014, p. 783.
- 22.
Wood 2015.
- 23.
Hoyle et al. 2015, p. 12.
- 24.
Hoyle et al. 2015, p. 12.
- 25.
International Crisis Group 2015, p. 8.
- 26.
See R Middleton ‘Missing Bradford Family: Mother did not want children to grow up in the UK’, International Business Times, 20 June 2015.
- 27.
D Khan ‘For jihadi women it’s not about ‘Jihadi brides’, it’s about escape’, The Guardian, 21 June 2015.
- 28.
International Crisis Group 2015, p. 2.
- 29.
For example, see de Roy van Zuijdewijn 2014.
- 30.
Heinke and Raudszus 2015, p. 19.
- 31.
K Sullivan and K Adam ‘Hoping to Create a New Society, the Islamic State Recruits Entire Families’, The Washington Post, 24 December 2014.
- 32.
M Bloom ‘How ISIS Is Using Marriage as a Trap’, The Huffington Post, 3 February 2015.
- 33.
International Crisis Group 2015, pp. 1–2.
- 34.
L De Bode ‘From Belgium to Syria and Back: How an Altar Boy Became an ISIL Admirer’, Al Jazeera America, 5 March 2015.
- 35.
L Ferran and R Kreider ‘Selling the Fantasy: Why Young Western Women Would Join ISIS’, ABC News, 20 February 2015.
- 36.
Hoyle et al. 2015, p. 29.
- 37.
See Chap. 6 by Weimann in this volume.
- 38.
A Shubert and B Naik ‘From Glasgow Girl to “Bedroom Radical” and ISIS Bride’, CNN, 5 September 2014.
- 39.
K De Freytas-Tamura ‘Teenage Girl Leaves for ISIS, and Others Follow’, The New York Times, 24 February 2015.
- 40.
Euronews ‘Jihadi dream turns to nightmare for European girls’, 10 October 2014.
- 41.
Winter 2015, p. 24.
- 42.
International Crisis Group 2015, p. 6.
- 43.
Winter 2015, p. 9.
- 44.
M Chastain ‘The Women of ISIS’, Breitbart, 6 September 2014. Appreciation to Marie Principe for bringing this to our attention.
- 45.
Freytas-Tamura de 2015.
- 46.
Ranstorp 2014.
- 47.
Hoyle et al. 2015, p. 13.
- 48.
M Chastain ‘Women Volunteer for Sexual Jihad with Islamic State’, Breitbart, 27 August 2014. Appreciation to Marie Principe for bringing this to our attention.
- 49.
Chastain 2014, supra n. 44.
- 50.
S White ‘ISIS Fighters Tells Families “Hand Over Your Daughters for Sex” after Orders from Cleric's Fatwa’, Mirror, 22 June 2014; M Chastain ‘ISIS Slaughters 150 Females in Iraq for Refusing to Marry, Have Sex with Them’, Breitbart, 17 December 2014.
- 51.
Freytas-de Tamura 2015.
- 52.
Winter 2015, pp. 29, 38.
- 53.
Hoyle et al. 2015.
- 54.
Quoted in Hoyle et al. 2015, p. 21.
- 55.
Ferran and Kreider 2015, supra n. 35.
- 56.
Ibid.
- 57.
Kimmel 2005.
- 58.
Ibid.
- 59.
Ibid (emphasis in original).
- 60.
Zelin 2015.
- 61.
R Dobson ‘British Muslims face worst job discrimination of any minority group, according to research’, The Independent, 30 November 2014.
- 62.
Martin 2015.
- 63.
Sprusansky 2014, p. 20.
- 64.
See Chap. 2 by Bakker and Singleton in this volume.
- 65.
D Kirkpatrick ‘New Freedoms in Tunisia Drive Support for ISIS’, The New York Times, 21 October 2014.
- 66.
Ibid.
- 67.
Winter 2015, p. 39.
- 68.
T Arango ‘A Boy in ISIS. A Suicide Vest. A Hope to Live’, The New York Times, 26 December 2014.
- 69.
M Weiss and H Hassan ‘The Metamorphosis of an Islamic State Warrior’, Foreign Policy, 9 March 2015.
- 70.
‘Australian Doctor Joins ISIS Medical Team in Jihad against the West’, News Corp Australia, 25 April 2015.
- 71.
Ibid.
- 72.
Hoyle et al. 2015, p. 33.
- 73.
Dabiq 2015, p. 7.
- 74.
Lahoud 2014, p. 788.
- 75.
Winter 2015, p. 17.
- 76.
- 77.
UNAMI/OHCHR 2014, p. 18.
- 78.
Y Sayman ‘Abducted, Tortured, Indoctrinated: The Tale of a Teen Who Escaped ISIS’, The Daily Beast, 8 April 2014.
- 79.
M Martinez ‘ISIS Video Claims to Show Boy Executing Two Men Accused of Being Russian Spies’, CNN, 15 January 2015.
- 80.
Haykel as cited in Jenkins 2015.
- 81.
Anderson 2015.
- 82.
Jenkins 2015.
- 83.
H Saul ‘Isis “executes scores of women for refusing to marry militants”, Iraq ministry claims’, The Independent, 17 December 2014.
- 84.
Winter 2015, p. 11.
- 85.
Ibid, p. 18.
- 86.
Ibid, p. 23.
- 87.
Ibid.
- 88.
Hoyle et al. 2015, p. 27.
- 89.
Winter 2015, p. 9.
- 90.
L Sly ‘The Islamic State is failing at being a state’, The Washington Post, 25 December 2014.
- 91.
M Moslawi, F Hawramy, and L Harding ‘Citizens of Mosul endure economic collapse and repression under Isis rule’, The Guardian, 27 October 2014.
- 92.
Hoyle et al. 2015.
- 93.
A Assad and M Salih ‘New evidence reveals how ISIL controls its territories’, Al Jazeera English, 5 August 2015.
- 94.
Winter 2015, p. 24.
- 95.
Ibid.
- 96.
Al-Bahri 2014.
- 97.
Trad 2015.
- 98.
A Damon and G Tuysuz 2014, ‘Confessions of a Female ISIS Member’, CNN, 7 October 2014.
- 99.
Ibid; Ki-Moon 2014, para 145.
- 100.
Wood 2015.
- 101.
Dabiq 2014.
- 102.
Amnesty International 2014.
- 103.
P Wood ‘Islamic State: Yazidi women tell of sex-slavery trauma’, BBC World News, 22 December 2014.
- 104.
Ibid.
- 105.
Stern and Berger 2015.
- 106.
Saul 2014, supra n. 83.
- 107.
See Chap. 10 by Heinsch in this volume.
- 108.
Dabiq 2014.
- 109.
G Botelho ‘ISIS: Enslaving, Having Sex with 'Unbelieving' Women, Girls Is OK’, CNN, 13 December 2014.
- 110.
Ibid.
- 111.
McCants 2014.
- 112.
A Withnall ‘Isis releases ‘abhorrent’ sex slaves pamphlet with 27 tips for militants on taking, punishing and raping female captives’, The Independent, 10 December 2014.
- 113.
Weiss and Hassan, supra n. 69.
- 114.
Mazurana 2012.
- 115.
Bloom 2007.
- 116.
Fishman 2009, p. 16.
- 117.
Ibid.
- 118.
Ibid.
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Van Leuven, D., Mazurana, D., Gordon, R. (2016). Analysing the Recruitment and Use of Foreign Men and Women in ISIL through a Gender Perspective. In: de Guttry, A., Capone, F., Paulussen, C. (eds) Foreign Fighters under International Law and Beyond. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-099-2_7
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