The ballot or the bomb belt: the roots of female suicide terrorism before and after 9/11

ABSTRACT

In recent years, an upward trend in terrorist attacks has mirrored an increase in suicide attacks. According to our preliminary analysis, the events of September 11^th marked a sea change in the number of terrorist attacks. While a rich literature has evaluated why terrorists participate in suicide attacks, none have considered the uptick in volume after 9/11, and fewer yet have considered how female fighters may be contributing to this. We evaluate how both structural and female-specific factors affect the likelihood of female fighter suicide attacks. Recent literature discovered a trend in terrorist groups using females as suicide bombers due to cultural norms that permit them to get closer to targets. We test our theory using data from the Chicago Project on Security and Threats Suicide Attack Database (CPOST-SAD) and various datasets from the Quality of Government (QOG) compendium for the 1986–2016 time period. We construct a series of models that consider both female-specific and structural factors that could explain variation in the number of female suicide attacks. Our results indicate that our models encompass relatively stable patterns. Female political empowerment, female educational attainment, and female employment rates are significant and positive in our post-9/11 models, indicating that they may increase female suicide attacks. Democracy is a relevant structural factor and generally yields a positive effect on female suicide attacks across both time periods and multiple models. Ethnic fractionalization is significant in both time periods but yields a negative effect before 9/11 and a positive effect in the later period.

KEYWORDS:

• Terrorism
• female fighters
• suicide bombing
• suicide attacks
• suicide terrorism
• September 11^th
• 9/11
• CPOST
• female suicide attackers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Pape, Dying to Win; Bloom, Dying to Kill; and Moghadam, “Suicide Terrorism, Occupation, and the Globalization of Martyrdom.”

2. Burgoon, “On Welfare and Terror”; Piazza, “Do Democracy”; Piazza, “Poverty, Minority Economic Discrimination”; and Young and Findley, “Promise and Pitfalls of Terrorism Research.”

3. Zedalis, Female Suicide Bombers; McKay, “Girls as ‘Weapons of Terror’ in Northern Uganda and Sierra Leonean Rebel Fighting Forces”; Ness, “In the Name of the Cause”; Jacques and Taylor, “Male and Female Suicide Bombers”; Speckhard, “The Emergence of Female Suicide Terrorists”; O’Rourke, “What’s Special about Female Suicide Terrorism?”; Speckhard, “Female Suicide Bombers in Iraq”; Ahmed, “The Growing Threat of Female Suicide”; Manrique et al., “Women’s Connectivity in Extreme Networks”; Mehra, “Foreign Terrorist Fighters”; Alakoc, “Femme Fatale”; and Donnelly, “Women in Al-Shabaab through a New War’s Lens.”

4. Weichselbaumer and Winter-Ebmer, “A Meta-Analysis of the International Gender.”

5. Ness, “In the Name of the Cause”; and O’Rourke, “What’s Special about Female Suicide Terrorism?”

6. Sandler and Enders, “September 11 and Its Aftermath”; and Santifort, Sandler, and Brandt, “Terrorist Attack and Target Diversity.”

7. Bloom and Hynes, “The Increasing Lethality of Suicide Attacks in Iraq”; and Pape, Dying to Win.

8. Alison, “Women as Agents of Political Violence.”

9. Dalton and Asal, “Is It Ideology or Desperation”; and Thomas and Bond, “Women’s Participation.”

10. Cunningham, “Cross-Regional Trends in Female Terrorism”; Alison, “Women as Agents of Political Violence”; Bloom, Dying to Kill; O’Rourke, “What’s Special about Female Suicide Terrorism?”; Henshaw, “Why Women Rebel”; and Wood and Thomas, “Women on the Frontline.”

11. Reif, “Women in Latin American Guerrilla Movements”; and Thomas and Bond, “Women’s Participation in Violent Political Organizations.”

12. See note 8 above

13. Ness, “In the Name of the Cause”; Jacques and Taylor, “Male and Female Suicide Bombers”; O’Rourke, “What’s Special about Female Suicide Terrorism?”; Henshaw, “Why Women Rebel”; and Wood and Thomas, “Women on the Frontline.”

14. Ness, “In the Name of the Cause”; Ahmed, “The Growing Threat of Female Suicide Attacks in Western Countries”; and Davis, “Evolution of the Global Jihad.”

15. Pearson, “Wilayat Shahidat,” 34.

16. Warner and Chapin, “Targeted Terror,” 24.

17. Zerai, “Organising Women within a National Liberation Struggle”; Jacques and Taylor, “Male and Female Suicide Bombers”; and Speckhard, “Female Suicide Bombers in Iraq.”

18. Ness, “In the Name of the Cause.”

19. McKay, “Girls as ‘Weapons of Terror’,” 388.

20. Victor, Army of Roses; and Cunningham, “Cross-Regional Trends in Female Terrorism.”

21. Manrique et al., “Women’s Connectivity in Extreme Networks”; Mehra, “Foreign Terrorist Fighters”; and Donnelly, “Women in Al-Shabaab through a New War’s Lens.”

22. See note 21 above.

23. Ndung’u et al., “Violent Extremism in Kenya”; and Donnelly, “Women in Al-Shabaab through a New War’s Lens.”

24. Henshaw, “Where Women Rebel”; and Donnelly, “Women in Al-Shabaab through a New War’s Lens.”

25. Donnelly, “Women in Al-Shabaab through a New War’s Lens.”

26. Davis, “Evolution of the Global Jihad”; Henshaw, “Where Women Rebel”; and Henshaw, “Why Women Rebel.”

27. Reif, “Women in Latin American Guerrilla Movements”; Alison, “Women as Agents of Political Violence”; McKay, “Girls as “Weapons of Terror””; Ness, “In the Name of the Cause”; Viterna, “Pulled, Pushed, and Persuaded”; and Henshaw, “Where Women Rebel.”

28. Zerai, “Organising Women within a National Liberation Struggle.”

29. Ness, “In the Name of the Cause”; and Ahmed, “The Growing Threat of Female Suicide Attacks in Western Countries.”

30. By contrast, more years are in the 10–20 bomber range in the post-9/11 period, with 2015 (approximately 120) and 2008 (approximately 40), respectively, witnessing the largest number of female suicide attackers (Okowita 2017).

31. Okowita, “Female Suicide Terrorism.” By contrast, more years are in the 10–20 bomber range in the post-9/11 period, with 2015 (approximately 120) and 2008 (approximately 40), respectively, witnessing the largest number of female suicide attackers.

32. Ahmed, “The Growing Threat of Female Suicide Attacks in Western Countries”; Atran, “Mishandling Suicide Terrorism”; Bloom, Dying to Kill; and Ness, “In the Name of the Cause.”

33. Ness, “In the Name of the Cause”; O’Rourke, “What’s Special about Female Suicide Terrorism?”; Ahmed, “The Growing Threat of Female Suicide Attacks in Western Countries”, and Alakoc, “Femme Fatale.”

34. Speckhard, “The Emergence of Female Suicide Terrorists”; Davis, “Evolution of the Global Jihad”; Ahmed, “The Growing Threat of Female Suicide Attacks in Western Countries”; Dalton and Asal, “Is It Ideology or Desperation”; Henshaw, “Where Women Rebel”; and Alakoc, “Femme Fatale.”

35. Dearing, “Agency and Structure as Determinants of Female Suicide Terrorism”; O’Rourke, “What’s Special about Female Suicide Terrorism?”; Speckhard, “Female Suicide Bombers in Iraq”; Ahmed, “The Growing Threat of Female Suicide Attacks in Western Countries”; Royston, “A Qualitative Pattern Analysis of Suicide Terrorism”; Okowita, “Female Suicide Terrorism”; Alakoc, “Femme Fatale”; and Warner et al., “Suicide Squads.”

36. Speckhard, “The Emergence of Female Suicide Terrorists”; and Speckhard, “Female Suicide Bombers in Iraq.”

37. Ahmed, “The Growing Threat of Female Suicide Attacks in Western Countries”; Okowita, “Female Suicide Terrorism”; and Alakoc, “Femme Fatale.”

38. Cunningham, “Cross-Regional Trends in Female Terrorism.”

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid., 183.

41. Thomas and Bond, “Women’s Participation in Violent Political Organizations.”

42. Victor, Army of Roses; Zedalis, Female Suicide Bombers; Bloom, Dying to Kill; Jacques and Taylor, “Male and Female Suicide Bombers”; Speckhard, “The Emergence of Female Suicide Terrorists”; and O’Rourke, “What’s Special about Female Suicide Terrorism?”

43. Bloom, Dying to Kill; Speckhard and Akhmedova, “Talking to Terrorists”; Dalton and Asal, “Is It Ideology or Desperation”; and Warner et al., “Suicide Squads.”

44. See note 19 above.

45. Bloom, Dying to Kill; and Speckhard and Akhmedova, “Talking to Terrorists.”

46. Bloom, Dying to Kill.

47. Atran, “Genesis of Suicide Terrorism”; and Speckhard, “Female Suicide Bombers in Iraq.”

48. Dalton and Asal, “Is It Ideology or Desperation”; Women and Terrorist Radicalization; and Jacques and Taylor, “Myths and Realities of Female-Perpetrated Terrorism.”

49. Thomas and Bond, “Women’s Participation in Violent Political Organizations”; and Henshaw, “Why Women Rebel.”

50. Viterna, “Pulled, Pushed, and Persuaded,” 38.

51. Wade and Reiter, “Does Democracy Matter?”; Piazza, “Do Democracy and Free Markets Protect Us From Terrorism?”; and Young and Findley, “Promise and Pitfalls of Terrorism Research.”

52. Pape, Dying to Win; Krueger, What Makes a Terrorist?; and Jahanbani et al., A Lethal Metamorphosis.

53. Victor, Army of Roses; Dalton and Asal, “Is It Ideology or Desperation”; Jacques and Taylor, “Myths and Realities of Female-Perpetrated Terrorism”; and “Women and Terrorist Radicalization.”

54. Atran, “Genesis of Suicide Terrorism”; Zedalis, Female Suicide Bombers; Dalton and Asal, “Is It Ideology or Desperation”; and Jacques and Taylor, “Myths and Realities of Female-Perpetrated Terrorism.”

55. ”Women and Terrorist Radicalization.”

56. Krueger and Malečková, “Education, Poverty and Terrorism”; and Krueger, What Makes a Terrorist?

57. See note 54 above.

58. Atran, “Genesis of Suicide Terrorism.”

59. “Women and Terrorist Radicalization”; and Jacques and Taylor, “Myths and Realities of Female-Perpetrated Terrorism.”

60. Cunningham, “Cross-Regional Trends in Female Terrorism”; Eager, From Freedom Fighters to Terrorists; and Henshaw, “Why Women Rebel.”

61. We adopt Sundström et al.’s (2015) tripartite definition of female political empowerment consisting of female civil liberties, civil society participation, and political participation.

62. Schelling, Arms and Influence.; and Thomas, “Rewarding Bad Behavior.”

63. “Obstacles to Female Leadership.”

64. Jacques and Taylor, “Myths and Realities of Female-Perpetrated Terrorism.”

65. Pape, Dying to Win; and “Women and Terrorist Radicalization.”

66. Krueger and Malečková, “Education, Poverty and Terrorism.”

67. “Factors Contributing to School Dropout among the Girls”; and Noori, “Issues Causing Girls’ Dropout from Schools in Afghanistan.”

68. See note 67 above.

69. Noori, “Issues Causing Girls’ Dropout from Schools in Afghanistan.”

70. See note 59 above.

71. Broadbent, Women’s Employment in Japan.

72. Weichselbaumer and Winter-Ebmer, “A Meta-Analysis of the International Gender Wage Gap.”

73. Ndung’u et al., “Violent Extremism in Kenya,” 32.

74. See note 73 above.

75. Piazza, “Do Democracy and Free Markets Protect Us From Terrorism?”

76. Wade and Reiter, “Does Democracy Matter?”

77. Pape, Dying to Win; Kydd and Walter, “The Strategies of Terrorism”; and Krueger, What Makes a Terrorist?

78. See note 34 above.

79. Young and Findley, “Promise and Pitfalls of Terrorism Research,” 300.

80. Anderson, Imagined Communities.

81. Pettigrew and Tropp, “Allport’s Intergroup Contact Hypothesis,” 263.

82. O’Rourke, “What’s Special about Female Suicide Terrorism?”

83. Our primary focus is female suicide bombers that are part of violent non-state actors, including terrorist and insurgent organizations: this analysis excludes those that committed suicide outside the context of an organization.

84. Table 1 demonstrates the data used in our models: it reflects descriptive statistics for the variables already transformed to measures of central tendency.

85. Coppedge et al., “V-Dem [Country-Year/Country-Date] Dataset v7.1.”

86. See note 64 above.

87. “Global Educational Attainment 1970–2015.”

88. Teorell et al., “The Quality of Government Standard Dataset, Version Jan18.”

89. Young and Findley, “Promise and Pitfalls of Terrorism Research.”

90. See note 76 above.

91. See note 88 above.

92. Piazza, “Do Democracy and Free Markets Protect Us from Terrorism?”; and Piazza, “Poverty, Minority Economic Discrimination.”

93. Piazza, “Poverty, Minority Economic Discrimination.”

94. The ‘othering’ process we describe along ethnic lines is similar to one described by Juergensmeyer (2000) with regards to religious groups.

95. Pape, Dying to Win.

96. See note 82 above.

97. See note 89 above.

98. Thomas, “Rewarding Bad Behavior.”

99. See note 52 above. (Pape, Dying to Win; Krueger, What Makes a Terrorist?; and Jahanbani et al., A Lethal Metamorphosis.)

100. For the sake of brevity, we only listed support or the lack thereof for models that were statistically significant. Those that are not statistically significant also indicate a lack of support for the hypotheses.

101. See note 49 above.

102. See note 48 above. (Dalton and Asal 2011; “Women and Terrorist Radicalization” 2012; Jacques and Taylor 2013)

103. Because of our smaller sample, we use the 0.1 as the lowest level of significance. For the utility of this level of significance in small samples, see Fisher (1950) and Biau, Jolles, and Porcher (2010).

104. See note 48 above. (Dalton and Asal 2011; “Women and Terrorist Radicalization” 2012; Jacques and Taylor 2013).

105. We thank one of our reviewers for this salient point regarding the broader patriarchal context of female participation in suicide terrorism.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nakissa P. Jahanbani

Nakissa P. Jahanbani is a PhD candidate at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her research focuses on various aspects of political violence.

Charmaine N. Willis

Charmaine N. Willis is a PhD candidate at the University of Albany, State University of New York. Her research focuses on various aspects of contentious politics and collective action.