The Role of Women in Terror Organizations in Africa- Kenya and Nigeria

Abstract

There is growing global recognition that women play multiple roles both within violent extremist organizations and in preventing and countering violent extremism. However, very little is known about women and violent extremism in the context of Kenya. Through focus group discussions with women in affected communities and individual interviews with returnees and other stakeholders – including government officials, donors and civil society – this study aimed to gain insights into the socio-cultural, economic and political issues compelling women to join the terror groups, the roles that women play and trends in relation to women involvement in terror organizations in Kenya and Nigeria and the gendered impacts of involvement in terror groups. This study shows that there is a complex set of dynamics – including drivers, impacts and responses – influencing how and when women become involved in terror organization in Kenya in their communities. These dynamics operate at different levels societal, community, family and personal, are specific to the particular contexts in which they develop, and are fluid across time and space. While there is little evidence of women from Kenya perpetrating acts of violent extremism, women are actively involved in non-combative roles such as recruiting, gathering intelligence, facilitating funding, radicalizing their children, and providing the invisible support structure for violent extremists, such as supplying food, shelter and medical care for fighters. The findings demonstrate that terror groupings have multiple, and often mutually reinforcing, effects on the lives of women, their families and communities in Kenya. All the returnees interviewed for this research had experienced sexual violence in Al-Shabaab camps; there were also some incidents of sexual violence reported during counter-terrorism (CT) raids. Women have suffered physical, psychological and emotional harm as a result of violent extremism, with consequent physical health problems. Many women live in perpetual fear of terrorist attacks, their children’s safety and the hard security approach of some CT interventions, with some respondents feeling stigmatized, harassed and profiled by security agents because of their Muslim attire or because they looked Somali