Invisible Soldiers: Integration and Motivations of Women Within Boko Haram and Cross-Regional Trends of Female Terrorism - Pathways to Recruitment, Chechen Rebel Black Widows, Al Qaeda Female Jihad

This report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. Over the past century, women have been increasingly integrated and utilized within terrorist organizations. This thesis analyzes Boko Haram as a case study and examines the unique roles that women hold within it, focusing on the voluntary and involuntary motivations women participants use to justify their activity within the extremist organization. It examines the new ways in which female insurgents are being integrated into the organization and how this increased involvement, particularly as suicide bombers, lends to the effectiveness of Boko Haram as a terrorist organization. To conclude, this thesis discusses the measures that both the Nigerian and U.S. governments must take in order to help effectively combat Boko Haram. The measures taken must integrate women into the foundation of restructured government institutions in order for equality and education across religious and gender lines to be reached. Through this process, the root grievances of the Nigerian people and Boko Haram insurgency are addressed and eradication of the organization is made possible.

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

With the evolution of modern conflict, women have been increasingly integrated into all aspects of terrorism. This thesis analyzes Boko Haram as a case study of the unique roles that women hold within it, focusing on the voluntary and involuntary motivations women participants use to justify their activity within the extremist organization. It examines the new ways in which female insurgents are being integrated into the organization, and how this increased involvement, particularly as suicide bombers, lends to the effectiveness of Boko Haram as a terrorist organization. Through this analysis, it can be understood how Boko Haram's tactics and utilization of women differs from its cross-regional counterparts and how this organization must be approached by the international community differently than its extremist counterparts in order to fully combat and eradicate it from the Lake Chad region. In addition, the thesis addresses the following questions: Are there unique recruitment tactics that Boko Haram—compared to other contemporary extremist organizations—is implementing to control its female martyrs? Are the themes and trends—such as the kidnapping and torture of Christian women—that are being observed within the Boko Haram organization congruent with or similar to cross-regional narratives of extremist organizations located in differing regions and cultures? Additionally, how might the international community use this information to combat Boko Haram more effectively?