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...such circumstances, says Speckhard, tend to be recruited because they are in search of "psychological first aid." Working most often over the Internet, the recruiters play the role of a father to women left vulnerable by abuse or other trauma. "To an extent it does help them. It's like a drug. It's short-lived. It gives you relief, but it's not a solution. And just like a drug addiction, it often ends tragically," says Speckhard, who has interviewed more than 300 perpetrators of terrorism, their victims and their loved ones for her book Talking to Terrorists...
...ease of finding such women over the Internet, and their usefulness to terrorist groups, suggest that the role of women in jihadist movements will continue to grow. Even ultraconservative groups like al-Qaeda, which had long avoided recruiting women, have come around to the tactic, says Mia Bloom, author of Bombshell: Women and Terror. In Russia the problem is particularly acute, as more than 50% of the country's suicide attacks have been committed by women, compared with about 30% globally. Far more than those of male bombers, their attacks also speed the flow of new recruits and money into...
...this presents a daunting set of challenges for law enforcement. More heavy-handed efforts to clamp down on them, like the ones being employed by Russia in the North Caucasus, now seem to be doing more harm than good, by multiplying the sense of mourning and hurt that then become potential hooks for recruiters. Any solution must now reckon with the fact that the war on terrorism has become more than a matter to be dealt with by force...
...this violence is still happening? Absolutely. There have been many times I've heard people frame Congo like it's post-conflict. Congolese people find that idea really offensive. I've talked to a number of women who have been raped by the Congolese army. Security is all relative and things may shift in terms of what militia is doing what at any given moment...
...international community unaware? The U.S. government isn't doing more because they aren't hearing from Americans. We need to ask questions about the way we relate to Africa and what we consider baseline violence. People tend to hear about situations like Congo and say things like "it's tribal, rape is cultural in Africa." That I find fundamentally offensive and categorically inaccurate. If you talk to any Congolese person they would say that before 1996, these were not issues...