Why Female Suicide Terrorism is Becoming an Increasingly Apparent Phenomenon
An individual element of surprise, a hesitancy to search females, increased publicity for female suicide bombing attacks, and the societal stereotype which accentuates women as non-violent all contribute to a unique level of effectiveness which ensues female suicide terrorism (hereinforth fst). Suicide terrorism targets political change in countries of civil unrest, where societal norms are bifurcated upon gender. Events threatening global order are shifting away from nuclear weapons, military coups or any pandemic or endemic disease, to the destructive hand of religious zeal (O’Rourke, 2009). Religious differences have spawned a form of terrorism seemingly surpassing the two great tragedies of the 20th century; the World Wars. History is replete of erroneous religious passion that has produced atrocities such as the Inquisition, numerous genocides and the Holocaust. This trend has not dissolved since the formation of the UN in reaction to the second World War; but rather, gathered momentum under Islamic motivated terrorism.
This article will adopt Bruce Hoffman’s definition of suicide terrorism as the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence, whereby the attacker is killed instantly by their method of attack in pursuit of political change (Hoffman, 2003). An interesting component of this definition is the pursuit of political change, encompassing measures like recruitment and significant media publicity although these constitute a means to an end, not the end itself. What these measures offer is intermediate success before achieving the political change which they strive to accomplish. These goals tend to be maximalist by nature and are unlikely to be succeeded following one suicide attack. What fst offers is greater success rates for these intermediate goals, determined as the number of casualties inflicted, the reaction of international media, and subsequent recruitment opportunities, all contributing to an enhanced reaction of both the governments they target and their civilians. The greater reaction ignites a perception of relevance to a terrorist organisation contributing to their likelihood of achieving their political agenda.
Bifurcating the Study of Suicide Terrorism
The rate of success for each of these intermediate gains is subject to the societal norms of which female suicide terrorists operate in. Ebohon (2006:137) noted that the ‘feminine component of the human species who apart from serving as a vehicle for nurturing human life is also a producer, a consumer and an equally endowed agent for fostering a wholesome political, social and economic development in society’. Embedded norms have meant women who work in professions not usually seen as ‘female careers’ have been branded by their sex, such as female political leaders, female CEO’s and female soldiers, however it is rare to find someone described as a female cleaner or a female receptionist. Sjoberg (2011:4) noted women are ‘assumed to belong to these professions rather than the ones that remain at odds with ideal-type notions of what it means to be “a woman” despite female participation’.
Although norms associated with manliness (bravery and self-sacrifice) and womanliness (innocence and fragility) are turning obsolete in the West, women’s association with violence remains outside of these notions (Sjoberg & Gentry, 2007:2). The matter of female terrorists and as suicide attackers criticizes these sensitive cultural norms surrounding femininity which cannot comprehend the notion of women as militarists, terrorists or suicide bombers. Female terrorists abuse societal sensibilities and disrupt stereotypical perceptions of women as pure, innocent and non-violent. Not only does this allow them to disguise themselves without much suspicion, sensationalised media coverage attributes their actions to influence from male members in their lives, thereby reinforcing the doctrine of domination by men and their influence instead of attributing their actions to individually formed political motives.
Furthermore, the media focus on the attackers’ gender exemplifies the shock factor which accompanies a female suicide attack, sensationalising each successful attack as one which should be feared. This has deflected both policy makers and the public’s attention on how to handle this threatening development making it less likely to recognise the capacity of women to be suicide bombers culminating in a greater likelihood of both direct success (inflicting casualties) and indirect success (enhanced recruitment and greater publicity) which all contribute to political change. Therefore, this justifies the bifurcation of suicide terrorism by gender and the reasons behind the rise of this phenomenon will formulate the basis of this paper’s thesis, warranting careful study given the success of female suicide bombers in various terrorist organizations.
Direct Effectiveness: Inflicting Casualties: Examining Differential Rates of Lethality by Gender
A measurement of effectiveness which should be considered is the number of casualties inflicted as a result of the attack. The greater the number of casualties, the more effective the attack as a result of enhanced publicity and a greater shock value. It is worth noting that terrorists will rarely rely on the number of casualties alone in order to achieve their politically motivated agenda. Instead, they will seek a reaction from the targeted government, their civilians and the associated press. Therefore, a higher number of casualties is often accompanied with an enhanced reaction from these actors.
In terms of casualties, suicide attacks are the most efficient form of terrorism. From 1980 to 2001, suicide attacks accounted for 3% of terrorist incidents but caused half of the total death’s terrorism inflicted – even if you exclude the devastating fatalities of the 9/11 attacks. Into this boiling cauldron of terror, fst has demonstrated new elements of success. The below figure displays these success rates for female suicide bombers in relation to male suicide bombers, from four prominent terrorist organisations (PKK, Tamil Tigers, Chechen, Palestinian).
The next figure further supports the hypothesis that fst are more successful in inflicting casualties, this time analysing the number of suicide attacks to inflict zero casualties, split by gender.
There are various explanations used to decipher this successful aspect of fst, in casualties- inflicted terms, many of which have been adopted by Boko Haram; a violent terrorist organization looking to impose Sharia (Islamic Law) in Nigeria. 13,000 people have been killed and as many as 1.5 million people have been displaced by the insurgency, however what makes Boko Haram unique is their utilisation of female suicide bombers. The use of suicide bombings has been a key strategic element of its violent campaign and their majority female suicide attackers has delivered them great success in their campaign. Two main explanations will be explored to understand Boko Haram’s increased success when using a female rather than a male, and then apply these explanations to other terrorist campaigns globally.
Firstly, weight must be given to a lower level of suspicion which attributes females, therefore easily gaining access without raising much attention. Boko Haram have felt success in northern Nigeria, where all female suicide attacks but one has taken place. The anomaly is an attacked on an energy depot in Lagos, but most others have targeted the economic hub of the north; Kano. There have been 20 fatalities from six attacks in Kano, with 26 fatalities from three in Borno, and 14 people from one attack in Bauchi (Bloom & Matfess:2016). A majority of these attacks targeted local markets as they are known to have a large gathering of people, making it an attractive high capacity venue for the insurgents to record huge fatalities with each successful attack.
Since so many women have carried out suicide missions in the north-eastern area of Nigeria, military and security personnel are on high alert at marketplaces and mosques before an individual can enter, disapproving this argument. Therefore, evolved tactics has introduced infants and other disguises in order to maintain an element of surprise to their attack. One reported attack saw a young girl buying noodles in the Customs area of a city when she detonated her explosives. Not only was the young girl blending in with her surroundings but was actively participating in normal social affairs before detonating her bomb. Further crude tactics used to maximize the use of female suicide bombers include the bombers acting like they’re being chased by Boko Haram militants. One woman falsely accused Boko Haram as chasing her into the compound of a village, before detonating her bomb killing multiple people. Boko Haram has consequently demonstrated an abundance of tactics, including disguising women as mentally ill, as part of a husband and wife couple, using infants in order to seem less suspicious, and disguising the bomb as an unborn child.
This is related to the second aspect of success as females are able to hide explosives in areas which males would find difficult not to attract any level of suspicion. This is a particularly useful advantage when considering states where Islam is the main religion, such as Nigeria. The use of the hijab, as expected of a Muslim woman, becomes a good means of hiding and conveying explosives and the females who carried out their attacks in the north of Nigeria all reportedly wore hijabs. The use of a hijab perceives the attacker as a non-violent actor and therefore not attracting any level of suspicion. Furthermore, Islamic religion forbids a man to frisk a woman and therefore security searches are limited to what they can search. Most security or control posts in north-eastern Nigeria are manned by male operatives hence the success of female suicide bombers in high capacity venues like markets and mosques.
These two strategies of success have not only benefitted Boko Haram but other terrorist campaigns globally. In Lebanon, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party had much success between 1985 and 1987, sending females with hidden explosives into the AUB hospital in Beirut, Beirut airport, and numerous SLA posts/checkpoints in Lebanon with a total number of 24 casualties and 102-106 wounded in seven attacks. The attacks at the AUB hospital and at Beirut airport are most intriguing as the female martyrs managed to walk their explosives in hidden carry bags, assumingly with low levels of suspicion from onlookers and security personnel.
Female suicide bombers benefit greatly from their ability to disguise themselves in order to attract little suspicion to their attack, and the ability to hide explosives in areas would find difficult with huge focus on the use of the hijab. These two themes contribute to the greater success rates of female suicide bombers in comparison to male martyrs.
Indirect effectiveness: sensationalised media coverage of female suicide attacks
Female publicity from crimes which disrupt the societal norms of femininity receive more permissive treatment in both the media coverage and the justice system in which their crimes are performed. This formulates the Chivalry hypothesis (Chase: 41-50) whereby the treatment of female criminals once convicted of committing a crime is compared to that of their male counterparts. Scholars note that unlike in the case of male criminals that tend to be covered while using the same narrative, the type of crime committed by the female criminal affects the way she will be treated by the media. This replicates a similar narrative when studying the media focus of female suicide attackers. Western media focuses on personal aspects while covering female terrorists, including descriptions of the female’s appearance, family status, biographic details, and social circumstances. In terms of motivation for attack, the media highlights a focus on external factors influencing female suicide attackers exacerbating the shock factor which often accompanies female suicide attacks. It is this shock factor which enhances the attention given to these attacks by the targeted government.
Other examples of media depict women involved in terror, particularly suicide bombers, as more rational, intelligent, and resolute than their male counterparts. In turn, this can also generate a more intense shock factor as they are taken more seriously, particularly within the pre-determined gender norms which are embedded in society. All studies reveal that publicity for female suicide terrorists reveal much more personal information compared to male suicide bombers, of which further embed these gender norms. Female suicide bombers in the cases of Chechen rebels and Palestinian organisations has brought high media profile attention to their causes precisely because they were females.
A New York Times article entitled ‘From Dismal Chechnya, Women Turn to Bombs’ is an example of how media portrayal of female suicide bombers is a likely source of sympathy for their terrorist organisation (Myers:2004). When one considers the role of media regarding suicide terrorism, one must remember that suicide terrorism is predominantly a psychological weapon to influence governments and their civilians to enact political changes the terrorists desire. Terrorist’s rarely limit the influence of their violence only on their actual victims but instead rely on the media to amplify their effects to the targeted society at large. When reporting on the August 24th, 2004 plane attacks, whereby sisters Nagayeva and Satsia Dzhebirkhanov each detonated an explosive on a passenger plane killing 89 people between them, the NY times depicted the bombers as more rational than any male counterpart who would perform such an act. The article begins by describing the women as “decent people”, followed by relayed interviews of those sharing their community who were in awe of the news, already triggering an enhanced reaction. The Times then struggle to apply reasoning behind their motivation, pondering over aspects of revenge (common in the Black Widows’ movement), aspects of fear, and senses of injustice. The article doesn’t explicitly refer to any form of individually found politically motivation behind their attacks, associating tacit sympathy to the Chechen rebel’s organisation. Therefore, one can suggest that Western media are failing the fight against terrorism when reporting female suicide attacks.
This hypothesis is reinforced further when studying the international perception of the Black Widow’s. The October 2002 siege of the Dubrovka Theatre gave birth to the term whereby news reports about the 19 women involved attributed their willingness to die as a result of revenge for the deaths of their husbands. The way in which the media portrayed the female participants in this siege generated a significant deal of sympathy to the Chechen rebel cause, whereby the widely accepted nickname Black Widow’s aligns with support and compassion for readers. Furthermore, a vast majority of the literature surrounding fst is depicting their motivations rather than the success or the dangers of this phenomenon. It is difficult for scholars to appreciate the concept of a politically motivated female suicide terrorist who is not influenced by a male directly (radicalisation) or indirectly (revenge for the loss of a loved one). This theme is not only pertinent to Chechnya, but also evident in Palestinian terrorist organisations.
Fear is increased in the targeted government and their civilians, intimidating the communities of which they live in. Targeting young girls and women has increased the amount of media attention the group a terrorist campaign receives, while at the same time is being utilized as a mechanism of escalating tactics and to strike fear in the public; a fear that the individual, their children or community cold be targeted next. The ultimate success of sensationalised media is a power move to assign a level of relevance to their campaign. By using women and young girls as martyr’s demonstrates that the group is willing to go to extreme measures for the cause.
Testing two female suicide attackers
To test the above hypotheses that fst is more effective in aiding campaigns to achieve their stated goals, I will apply the four intermediate measures to two short case studies in order to test their validity. These two case studies will involve a successful female suicide attack from differing campaigns across the globe. I use successful in the sense that an explosive detonated and caused casualties.
First is Reem al-Riyashi, a mother of two who detonated herself and four Israeli soldiers at the Erez border crossing on Januray 14, 2004. The attack claimed joint responsibility by both Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. The Israeli army reported that when she reached the metal detector at the terminal, Riyashi claimed to be disabled and walked with a limp as the false metal plates in her leg would set off the security alarms. She asked to have a body search instead where she was taken to an area and told to wait for a female soldier to search her. It was at this moment that she detonated her explosive device, strapped to her legs (McGreal:2004). Not only does this suggest a lack of suspicion from the male operatives manning the security controls with a seemingly disabled female able to bypass the metal detectors, presumably out of sympathy, but also media coverage focussed on her parental role as a mother “leaving behind two young children”, that she was mentally ill prior to the attack, and the influence of her husband in persuading her to become a martyr. International media were shocked to learn that Palestinian terrorist operations were not limited to militant men but also young females who were also willing to detonate themselves for the cause.
The second case study which will prove the above hypotheses is the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. May 21, 1991 saw an interesting method of attack whereby a female suicide terrorist associated with the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) detonated an RDX explosive, killing the former Indian Prime Minister. A woman identified as Thenmozhi Rajaratnam approached Gandhi in public, bent down to kiss his feet, a greeting signalling respect, and detonated a basket of flowers laden with explosives (Vinayak, 1999). In this instance, the female martyr was blending in with her surroundings and disguising herself as a supporter of Gandhi and his regime, only to assassinate the Prime Minister and at least 25 other people. Further, the basket of flowers connotates with assumptions of innocence and honesty, contributing to her façade. Media coverage surrounding this attack focussed more on the victim rather than the perpetrator as it was a high-profile assassination. However, this further demonstrated the extent of LTTE’s scope of attack and imposed fear amongst Sri Lanka’s governments and their citizens, it was also the first of a series of female suicide attacks deployed by the Tamil Tigers which have killed over 200 civilians. This leads to further enquiries regarding the use of female suicide attackers on assassination attempts, of which Figure 3.a demonstrates their prevalence in this particular attack type.
Conclusion
This concludes that females are trusted more to complete a high-profile assassination over their male counterparts. The ability to disguise and be seemingly innocent gives terrorist organisations greater confidence. What accompanies high-profile assassination attempts, such as in the case of Rajiv Gandhi, is international media focus on the organisation itself rather than on the attacker. Together, the increased likelihood of success when using a female attacker and a widened scoped of media coverage brings a greater theme of relevance to the terrorist campaign, and overall a better chance of achieving their stated political goals. Lastly, this attack was the first female suicide bomber used by LTTE and sparked a decade’s worth of 12 female bombers killing almost 200 civilians. Therefore, it is clear to see how the Tamil Tigers’ utilisation of female suicide bombers maximised their potential to achieve their political goals. Therefore, it is clear to see how fst is advantageous to differing terrorist campaigns across the globe as a result of its unique shock factor.
