Women drawn into jihadist life

Three girls from the US had almost made it half way on their journey to join the "Islamic State" (IS). But at the weekend German police stopped the teenagers, aged 15 to 17, in Frankfurt and sent them back to the US. Other girls from Europe and America, however, have reached Syria and northern Iraq. Among the thousands of volunteers in the Sunni terrorist militia, there's an increasing number of young women from the West.

The case of a 16-year-old high school student from Konstanz, southern Germany, caused uproar in Germany after she secretly travelled through Turkey to a training camp in Syria. It was from there that she announced she had joined al Qaeda. Katherine Brown, lecturer in Defense Studies at King's College, London, estimates that 200 women from across Europe have been drawn into the Syrian civil war, and she has identified several reasons for their decision.

"The Islamic State offers a political utopia," Brown said in an interview with DW. "There's a naive, romantic idealization [of IS] - a state that is supposedly based on the precepts of Islam. This plays a role in Europe, where many young Muslims feel estranged from the political debate."

"Then there's the thirst for adventure in young people," she added. "This is somewhat similar to the Spanish Civil War some 75 years ago. It was exciting and the youth wanted to be part of it." Brown believes that for some young Muslim women there is certainly a connection between this and the feeling of belonging to a new state. "They want to be part of something new, as mothers of the state and wives of the fighters," she said.

Women often younger than male IS supporters

Burkhard Freier, head of the North Rhine-Westphalia intelligence agency, estimates that 25 women have left the region to join IS. "These women are very young, younger than the men - between 16 and 20," said Freier. Almost all the women come from migrant families. Freier believes that, like the men, these women and girls often lack a sense of respect and direction. "It's also a type of protest culture…a wish to isolate themselves from their own family," explained Freier. "There are also individual cases where women have said that in Syria, they can live with their Muslim beliefs and their veil better than in Germany," he added.

Many young female IS supporters become radicalized over the internet and are drawn in by videos, blogs, and Facebook posts by other women who are already inside the militia's territory. There, alongside masses of propaganda, they can find practical tips and advice about life in a war zone.

The strict version of Islam, to which the young volunteers devote themselves, leaves women with little room for maneuver. Women have just two roles: as a faithful companion to a fighter and as a mother.

Nevertheless, some of the women are apparently involved in fighting, or at least portray themselves as fighters. Brown quoted the words she saw in a blog by a Malaysian doctor: "I've got my stethoscope and my Kalashnikov rifle - what more can I need?" Last week, a photo was also published picturing a French woman as a suicide bomber with a belt of explosives.

Muslim women probably not involved in fighting

Freier, however, believes that women aren't taking part in combat missions. "They're appointed to guard and support the men," he said. "They're not as free as they'd like, but are bound there. Often, even if they wanted to, they can no longer go back."

According to media reports, this was the experience of two young Austrian girls. After six months in IS and marriage to IS fighters, they are said to have contacted friends because they could no longer endure the bloodshed. As well as previously announcing that they would die for Allah, the 16 and 17-year-olds had also posted pictures in which they were fully veiled and holding rifles.

For Brown and Freier, the radicalization of women has more to do with politics and protest than with religion. This to due to the fact that some of them set off on their journey with a very sketchy knowledge of Islam, said Brown. "There are the usual utterances, the black flag and the chants in the videos. But they grasp very little of the theology of jihad or how it relates to their new lifestyle."