What motivates female suicide terrorists?

Abstract

Female suicide terrorism is increasing worldwide. The phenomenon is shocking to many because it runs counter to the widespread perception of women as nonviolent. Questions have arisen concerning the motivations of these women, and different theories have been proposed. Some have alleged that female terrorists are motivated by psychological problems or by the will to avenge a personal tragedy. Other theorists argue that women are fighting to achieve gender equality, since the societies they live in are often extremely patriarchal. Yet others believe that women are motivated by the same reasons as their male counterparts: nationalistic or religious fanaticism. Whatever might be their motivation, it is clear that terrorist organizations employ women because they offer a number of important benefits. It is possible that, in a sense, female suicide terrorism is just another expression of gender oppression.Most of the time, however, women help terrorists groups in a different and more invisible way: they play an important secondary role by supporting the male terrorists and raising and educating new generations of terrorists. It is interesting that there seems to be systematic underestimation of the danger of the female terrorists. In order to develop an effective counter-terrorism policy, female terrorism needs to be analyzed on several levels.