(National-UAE) European prosecutors are adopting harsher sentences towards female ISIS returnees as their numbers increase due to government repatriation programmes from prison camps in north-east Syria, a new book published by Dutch counter-terrorism think tank ICCT has found.
“Women can be both victims and perpetrators, including at the same time,” according to Female Jihadis Facing Justice, which looked at 283 trials. “Several girls and young women were vulnerable, whereas other women had more agency. Many women were involved only in non-violent activities, but some were also involved in violent activities, either within the household, or by inciting or plotting terrorist attacks.”
France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium have faced a sudden influx of female terrorists. These four countries represent more than half of all adults who travelled to Syria and Iraq to join a terrorist organisation after 2012.
