Are Female Suicide Bombers the Wave of the Future?
In the aftermath of the Christmas Day bomb plot, Western countries are beefing up security to combat terrorism atairports and universities. Mounting evidence suggests that, as they do this, they should pay particular attention to one group of people who've so far flown under the radar: women.
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On Monday, a female suicide bomber in Iraq detonated an explosives vest during a pilgrimage to Karbala. At least 41 people were killed and another 106 were injured in the attack.
She is hardly alone. In a recent article in the academic journal Security Studies, Lindsey A. O'Rourke shows that women have increasingly become key strategic assets in the realm of terrorism. Drawing on data from the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism, O'Rourke notes that the number of female suicide attackers has risen from eight in the 1980s to well over 100 since 2000. More to the point, suicide attacks by women tend to be the most lethal: The average number of victims resulting from individual attacks by women is 8.4, versus 5.3 killed per male attack. And while security measures to guard against male suicide bombers have improved over time, target states have been less adept at defending against female attackers.
O'Rourke argues that social prejudices about the role of women make them particularly well suited to this task. Precisely because women don't conform to prevailing stereotypes about suicide bombers, they tend to generate less suspicion. Female dress in those societies where suicide bombing have taken place -- particularly long, loose-fitting clothing -- is also conducive to concealing weapons (something men have also donned). Finally, precisely because we expect women to be less violent, they are typically subjected to more relaxed security measures.
O'Rourke's research is both fascinating and chilling. It is also particularly salient in light of recent evidence showing that al-Qaeda cells have begun training groups of female suicide bombers to attack Western targets. (In the past, all female attacks have taken place in Middle Eastern or Asian countries.) According to an article in London's Daily Telegraph, new intelligence suggests the women are being trained by the very same Yemeni group that was behind the Christmas Day bomb plot. Crucially, these female bombers are expected to "dress Western" and may be carrying Western passports.
This trend towards the "feminization" of suicide bombing has all sorts of security implications for the West. In theory, the controversial body scanners now being employed around the globe, which are mandatory here in the U.K., should help to reduce this particular threat. A few years back, American officials started a "Daughters of Iraq" program that trained Iraqi women to search specifically for female attackers. It seems we might now begin to see something similar in Western countries.
Which brings us back -- as all things inevitably must -- to the burqa debate. When I wrote my post defending burqas a few weeks back, I got a significant number of comments claiming that the garment is dangerous because it can be easily used to disguise weapons. It was just one more reason -- so it was argued -- for Middle Eastern women to dress in Western fashion.
It's a fair point, as noted above. But I would contend that it's even easier to hide a bomb when you look just like the rest of us.
Be careful what you wish for.
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On Monday, a female suicide bomber in Iraq detonated an explosives vest during a pilgrimage to Karbala. At least 41 people were killed and another 106 were injured in the attack.
She is hardly alone. In a recent article in the academic journal Security Studies, Lindsey A. O'Rourke shows that women have increasingly become key strategic assets in the realm of terrorism. Drawing on data from the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism, O'Rourke notes that the number of female suicide attackers has risen from eight in the 1980s to well over 100 since 2000. More to the point, suicide attacks by women tend to be the most lethal: The average number of victims resulting from individual attacks by women is 8.4, versus 5.3 killed per male attack. And while security measures to guard against male suicide bombers have improved over time, target states have been less adept at defending against female attackers.
O'Rourke argues that social prejudices about the role of women make them particularly well suited to this task. Precisely because women don't conform to prevailing stereotypes about suicide bombers, they tend to generate less suspicion. Female dress in those societies where suicide bombing have taken place -- particularly long, loose-fitting clothing -- is also conducive to concealing weapons (something men have also donned). Finally, precisely because we expect women to be less violent, they are typically subjected to more relaxed security measures.
O'Rourke's research is both fascinating and chilling. It is also particularly salient in light of recent evidence showing that al-Qaeda cells have begun training groups of female suicide bombers to attack Western targets. (In the past, all female attacks have taken place in Middle Eastern or Asian countries.) According to an article in London's Daily Telegraph, new intelligence suggests the women are being trained by the very same Yemeni group that was behind the Christmas Day bomb plot. Crucially, these female bombers are expected to "dress Western" and may be carrying Western passports.
This trend towards the "feminization" of suicide bombing has all sorts of security implications for the West. In theory, the controversial body scanners now being employed around the globe, which are mandatory here in the U.K., should help to reduce this particular threat. A few years back, American officials started a "Daughters of Iraq" program that trained Iraqi women to search specifically for female attackers. It seems we might now begin to see something similar in Western countries.
Which brings us back -- as all things inevitably must -- to the burqa debate. When I wrote my post defending burqas a few weeks back, I got a significant number of comments claiming that the garment is dangerous because it can be easily used to disguise weapons. It was just one more reason -- so it was argued -- for Middle Eastern women to dress in Western fashion.
It's a fair point, as noted above. But I would contend that it's even easier to hide a bomb when you look just like the rest of us.
Be careful what you wish for.
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