While the number of men who become foreign fighters in the ranks ISIS reaches a significant high point, a new study suggests hundreds of women from Western countries have migrated to the militant group’s territory.
As many as 550 women have travelled to the so-called Islamic State as “migrants,” The London, U.K.-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a think tank, reported in a study released Wednesday.
“The women have been designated as ISIS migrants if they self-identify as migrants in ISIS-controlled territory,” the report suggested, using social media reports and news reports to help verify claims made by women saying they have travelled to ISIS-controlled areas of Syria or Iraq.
“Although the term foreign fighter is commonly used to describe men who migrate to Syria and Iraq to participate in the conflict there, it is not an accurate description of the women who travel to this region,” the report, titled Becoming Mulan? Female Western Migrants to ISIS.
In compiling the results of its study, ISD explained it surveyed the social media postings of 12 women — including one Canadian — to analyze why they travelled to ISIS’ self-declared caliphate.
The Canadian mentioned in the report appears to be a woman who goes by the name Umm Haritha. The 20-year-old reportedly moved to Syria and married an ISIS militant from Sweden, who was later killed in action.
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“The women within our sample express their deep grievances at the treatment of Muslims across the world, and deplore the West’s foreign policy,” the study noted.
ISIS has been accused of committing various atrocities against women and children, including rape, forced marriage and slavery, as well as killing thousands of people.
Amarnath Amarasingam, a postdoctoral fellow at Dalhousie University who is researching foreign fighters, told Global News he knows of at least two Canadian women who are known to be in ISIS territory as well as “a few others” whom he believes have travelled to the Islamic State. He added there are others who have tried to leave Canada, but have been turned back, while some have “indicated” they have plans to travel to ISIS territory.
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All told, Amarasingam estimated about 15 to 20 Canadian girls or women are “interested” in or promoting a life under ISIS.
RCMP released the names of one young woman* who was deemed “high-risk travellers.” They were arrested Nov. 14, 2013 while trying to leave the country on one-way tickets to England and later charged with passport fraud. Last Week, Journal de Montreal reported two teenage Montreal women, reported missing in November, are also believed to be in Syria.
Global News reached out to the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to discuss the number of Canadian women who have travelled or are contemplating living in ISIS territory, or promoting life in the Islamic State. The RCMP declined to comment. CSIS did not respond to the request in time for publication.
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“I think it’s about time that people started talking more about women because we are seeing a kind of spike in numbers,” he said. There has also been a spike in the number of families doing the same.
He said the women are encouraged to come help build the caliphate, rather than luring them to the battlefields where thousands of foreign men are believed to have taken up arms.
“For women, it’s almost exclusively about living in a system dictated by God’s laws as opposed to manmade laws,” Amarasingam explained.
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But, they also contribute to what IDS called an “invaluable” propaganda campaign.
The IDS report pointed to social media sites such as Twitter, Tumblr and ask.fm as forums for such women to explain their reasoning for becoming ISIS migrants and to promote life under ISIS to others.
“They do engage in a kind of… element of inspiration, to try to get more women to come,” Amarasingam said. “I like to call it the Lonely Planet guide to the Islamic State, where they tell you what to bring, and what the weather is like, and what’s available there and what you should try to bring from the West.”
The number of women that IDS suggests have travelled to ISIS-controlled territory is a small fraction of the estimated number of foreign men who are now believed to be fighters with “Sunni militant organizations” in Iraq and Syria.
The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), also a London-based think tank, estimated more than 20,000 men are involved in the conflict, in either country.
ICSR estimated “between 5-10 per cent of the foreigners have died, and that a further 10-30 per cent have left the conflict zone, returning home or being stuck in a transit country.” The London, U.K.-based think tank called it “the largest mobilization of foreigner fighters in Muslim majority countries since 1945.”
It’s an offence under the criminal code for a Canadian passport holder to leave or attempt to leave the country to take part in activities related to designated terrorist organizations (including ISIS). The Canadian government can also revoke the passports of Canadian nationals who have departed or are attempting to depart the country to join ISIS and other extremist groups.
*CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post stated two young women had been deemed high-risk travellers and charged with passport fraud after trying to leave the country in 2013. It was, in fact, one young woman. Global News regrets the error.
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