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Study on Radicalisation and Violent Extremism – Focus on Women

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DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT FOR CITIZENS' RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS WOMEN’S RIGHTS & GENDER EQUALITY Radicalisation and violent extremism – focus on women: How women become radicalised, and how to empower them to prevent radicalisation STUDY Abstract This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, focuses on Islamist radicalisation and violent extremism in the EU and has two aims: 1) to explore and assess the question of women’s radicalisation and their involvement in violent extremism in the EU as well as to look into the mechanisms in place to prevent women and girls from radicalisation and propose further actions; and 2) to identify the potential of women in preventing radicalisation, in particular by looking into women’s current role in counter-radicalisation strategies and to explore potential gendered approaches and best practices to counter-radicalisation. PE 596.838 EN ABOUT THE PUBLICATION This research paper was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality and commissioned, overseen and published by the Policy Department for Citizen's Rights and Constitutional Affairs. Policy Departments provide independent expertise, both in-house and externally, to support European Parliament committees and other parliamentary bodies in shaping legislation and exercising democratic scrutiny over EU external and internal policies. To contact the Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs or to subscribe to its newsletter please write to: [email protected] RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH ADMINISTRATOR Eeva ERIKSSON Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] AUTHORS Seran DE LEEDE, Independent researcher, Associate fellow for the ICCT Renate HAUPFLEISCH, ÖSB Consulting GmbH Katja KOROLKOVA, ÖSB Consulting GmbH Monika NATTER, ÖSB Consulting GmbH With contributions by: Claudia CARVALHO (Case study Spain) Hadiya MASIEH (Case study United Kingdom) LANGUAGE VERSION Original: EN Manuscript completed in December 2017 © European Union, 2017 This document is available on the internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/supporting-analyses DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. Radicalisation and violent extremism – focus on women ____________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 5 GLOSSARY 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9 INTRODUCTION 11 PART I PREVENTING RADICALISATION AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM 12 1. RADICALISATION AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM: THE EXAMPLE OF JIHADIST RADICALISATION 12 1.1. Radicalisation and violent extremism 12 1.2. Jihadist radicalisation: Women’s role in jihad from a historical perspective 13 1.3. Overview of the current situation in the EU 16 1.3.1 Socio-demographic gender differences 17 1.3.2 Gender differences in radicalisation 17 1.3.3 Arrests 18 1.3.4 Legislation 19 1.4. Overview of EU Policy on PVE/CVE 19 2. WOMEN’S JIHADIST RADICALISATION AND THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN VIOLENT EXTREMISM 23 2.1. Western women supporting jihadist organisations 23 2.1.1. Pathways to radicalisation 23 2.1.2. Roles of women supporting ISIS/Da’esh 25 2.2. Online radicalisation 29 3. WOMEN’S ROLE IN PVE/CVE EFFORTS AND RELATED INITIATIVES 33 3.1. The role of women in countering radicalisation 33 3.2. Good practice examples of PVE/CVE initiatives 35 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION 39 PART II CASE STUDIES – GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS, SPAIN AND THE UNITED KINGDOM 43 5. OVERVIEW OF THE CASE STUDIES 43 5.1 Germany 43 5.2 The Netherlands 44 5.3 Spain 45 5.4 The United Kingdom 46 3 Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. CASE STUDY: GERMANY 48 6.1. Introduction 48 6.2 Profiles of women 49 6.3. The role of online radicalisation 53 7. CASE STUDY: THE NETHERLANDS 57 7.1. Introduction 57 7.2. Profiles of women 58 7.3. The role of online radicalisation 60 7.4. Good practice initiatives 61 8. CASE STUDY: SPAIN 65 8.1. Introduction 65 8.2. Profiles of women 66 8.3. The role of online radicalisation 69 8.4. Good practice initiatives 72 9. CASE STUDY: THE UNITED KINGDOM 74 9.1. Introduction 74 9.2. Profiles of women 76 9.3. The role of online radicalisation 79 9.4. Good practice initiatives 82 REFERENCES 85 4 Radicalisation and violent extremism – focus on women ____________________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AIVD Dutch Intelligence Service CVE Countering violent extremism EUISS European Institute for Strategic Studies GCTF Global Counter-Terrorism Forum ICCT International Centre for Counter-Terrorism ICSR International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation IP Intervention Provider MEMRI The Middle East Media Research Institute NCTV Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism NMWAG (UK) National Muslim Women’s Advisery Group OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe PEN-LCRV (Spanish) National Strategic Plan of Fight Against Violent Radicalization PVE/CVE Preventing/countering violent extremism PVE Preventing violent extremism RAN Radicalisation Awareness Network RUSI Royal United Service Institute SIPI (Dutch) Foundation for Intercultural Participation and Integration SNRP Amsterdam Strategic Network Radicalisation and Polarisation STRIVE Strengthening Resilience to Violence and Extremism VPN Violence Prevention Network WARN Women Against Radicalisation Network WomEx Women/girls in violent extremism 5 Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ____________________________________________________________________________________________ GLOSSARY Departees / Foreign fighters These terms refer to individuals that have for a variety of reasons and with different (ideological) backgrounds joined an armed conflict abroad,1 in the case of this study, the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Digital Umm Umm the Arabic word for mother. The Digital Umm refers to the online female jihadist community. The Digital Umm represents for these women a community of mothers, or future mothers, brought together online by the violent goal of educating their children to accept the jihadist ideology. Their online kinship is the recognition of themselves as online sisters who share the same violent narrative. Hijra (also spelled Hijrah or Hejira) Migration to the ISIS / Da’esh Caliphate. ISIS/Da'esh (IS, ISIL); Caliphate Da’esh refers to the Islamic State (IS), Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or al-Sham (ISIS). Da’esh is the acronym of the group’s previous name in Arabic (al-Dawla al-Islamiya fil Iraq wa al-Sham).2 Also the term Caliphate is used in this study synonymously. Jihad Jihad generally translates as 'effort' or 'struggle'. The Islamic tradition distinguishes between two forms of jihad.3 On the one hand, there is the inner jihad, referring to the struggle against temptation and to improve one’s own character. To most Muslims, this jihad is an integral part of the daily practice of their faith. On the other hand, jihad refers to a militant struggle waged to defend the (land of) Islam.4 When referring to jihad, this report refers to the militant and not the spiritual struggle. The origins of modern jihadism can be traced back to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Starting out as a defensive jihad against Soviet invasion, it evolved into a proxy war with recruits travelling to Afghanistan to support the Mujahedeen [term for those engaged in jihad] from all over the world.5 Contemporary jihadism is not an organised, singular movement, but rather a loose network of actors, connected through similar views and subject to constantly changing alliances and rivalries. Nevertheless, the spiritual and political foundations of this diverse group are based on two main pillars: religious puritanism propagated by Salafism and the inspirational dimension of political Islam/Islamism.6 Jihadists often refer to takfir – rendering those who do not share their interpretation of Islam – to justify attacks. The traditional distinction in jihad between dar al-Islam [the land of Islam/peace] and dar al-harb [land of war] is thereby reframed completely to accommodate 1 International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, Foreign fighters. Available at: https://icct.nl/topic/foreign-fighters/ 2 Irshaid, Faisal, Isis, Isil, IS or Daesh? One group, many names, BBC News, 2 December 2015. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27994277 3 Kusserow, Sebastian and Pawlak, Patryk (2015), Understanding Jihad and Jihadism, European Parliamentary Research Service. Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2015/557007/EPRS_ATA(2015)557007_EN.pdf 4 Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), De gewelddadige jihad in Nederland. 5 Kusserow, Sebastian and Pawlak, Patryk (2015), Understanding Jihad and Jihadism, European Parliamentary Research Service. 6 Ibid. 6 Radicalisation
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