Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-hvd4g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-08T22:20:37.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing: Assessing the Effect of Gender Norms on the Lethality of Female Suicide Terrorism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2021

Jakana L. Thomas
Get access

Abstract

Although a substantial body of research argues that women provide terrorist organizations with important tactical benefits, few studies draw out the implications of this argument or examine whether female recruits affect the outcomes of terrorist operations. Using data on individual suicide attacks from 1985 to 2015, I show that an attacker's gender influences the lethality of an attack. However, this effect is conditional upon the gender norms of the state in which the attack occurs. The results demonstrate that a female advantage is more apparent only in societies where a woman's role in public life is limited; attacks by female suicide attackers are more deadly in countries where women are largely absent from the workforce, civil society, and protest organizations. I also assess whether counterterrorists eventually adapt to the use of female suicide terrorists. The results demonstrate that female attack lethality is declining with time, suggesting that security forces eventually adapt to women's participation in terrorism. These findings are consequential because they highlight the effect of persistent gender biases on counterterrorism efforts.

Keywords

Femalewomengendergender norms suicide terrorismterrorist innovationviolencelethality
Type
Research Article
Information
International Organization , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , Summer 2021 , pp. 769 - 802
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alakoc, Burcu Pinar. 2017. When Suicide Kills: An Empirical Analysis of the Lethality of Suicide Terrorism. International Journal of Conflict and Violence (IJCV) 11 (1):1–15.Google Scholar
Asal, Victor, and Rethemeyer, R. Karl. 2008. The Nature of the Beast: Organizational Structures and the Lethality of Terrorist Attacks. The Journal of Politics 70 (2):437–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baldez, Lisa. 2002. Why Women Protest: Women's Movements in Chile. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayanpourtehrani, Ghazal, and Sylwester, Kevin. 2013. Female Labour Force Participation and Religion: A Cross-Country Analysis. Bulletin of Economic Research 65 (2):107–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berko, Anat. 2016. The Smarter Bomb: Women and Children As Suicide Bombers. Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Berko, Anat, and Erez, Edna. 2007. Gender, Palestinian Women, and Terrorism: Women's Liberation or Oppression? Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 30 (6):493–519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berman, Eli. 2011. Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Bloom, Mia. 2005. Dying To Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror. Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Bloom, Mia. 2011. Bombshell: The Many Faces of Women Terrorists. Penguin Canada.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunner, Claudia. 2005. Female Suicide Bombers—Male Suicide Bombing? Looking for Gender in Reporting the Suicide Bombings of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict. Global Society 19 (1):29–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bueno De Mesquita, Ethan. 2005. The Quality of Terror. American Journal of Political Science 49 (3):515–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, Latisha T. 2014. Why Female Suicide Bombers? A Closer Look at the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Chechen Separatists. PhD thesis, Virginia Commonwealth University.Google Scholar
Caplan, Bryan. 2006. Terrorism: The Relevance of the Rational Choice Model. Public Choice 128 (1–2):91–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism. 2016. Suicide Attack Database (12 October 2016 Release). [Data File]. No longer online.Google Scholar
Clark, Roger, Ramsbey, Thomas W., and Adler, Emily Stier. 1991. Culture, Gender, and Labor Force Participation: A Cross-national Study. Gender and Society 5 (1):47–66.Google Scholar
Conover, Pamela Johnston, and Sapiro, Virginia. 1993. Gender, Feminist Consciousness, and War. American Journal of Political Science 37 (4):1079–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conrad, Justin, and Greene, Kevin. 2015. Competition, Differentiation, and the Severity of Terrorist Attacks. The Journal of Politics 77 (2):546–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, David. 2005. Women Fighting in Jihad? Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 28 (5):375–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coppedge, Michael, Gerring, John, Lindberg, Staffan I., Skaaning, Svend-Erik, Teorell, Jan, Altman, David, Bernhard, Michael, Steven Fish, M., Glynn, Adam, Hicken, Allen, et al. 2017. V-dem [country-year/country-date] data set v5.Google Scholar
Cragin, R. Kim, and Daly, Sara A.. 2009. Women As Terrorists: Mothers, Recruiters, and Martyrs. ABC-CLIO.Google Scholar
Cunningham, Karla J. 2003. Cross-regional Trends in Female Terrorism. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 26 (3):171–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunningham, Karla J. 2007. Countering Female Terrorism. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 30 (2):113–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalton, Angela, and Asal, Victor. 2011. Is It Ideology or Desperation: Why Do Organizations Deploy Women in Violent Terrorist Attacks? Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 34 (10):802–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, Jessica. 2013. Evolution of the Global Jihad: Female Suicide Bombers in Iraq. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 36 (4):279–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, Jessica. 2017. Women in Modern Terrorism: From Liberation Wars to Global Jihad and the Islamic State. Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Dolnik, Adam. 2004. Critical Commentary on “Who Are the Palestinian Suicide Bombers?” Terrorism and Policical Violence 16 (4):845–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enders, Walter, and Sandler, Todd. 2000. Is Transnational Terrorism Becoming More Threatening? A Time-series Investigation. Journal of Conflict Resolution 44 (3):307–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Findley, Michael G., and Young, Joseph K.. 2012. Terrorism and Civil War: A Spatial and Temporal Approach to a Conceptual Problem. Perspectives on Politics 10 (2):285–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forest, James J.F. 2006. The Making of a Terrorist: Recruitment, Training, and Root Causes. Praeger Security International.Google Scholar
Fortna, Virginia Page. 2015. Do Terrorists Win? Rebels’ Use of Terrorism and Civil War Outcomes. International Organization 69 (3):519–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallup Organization. 2017. Gallup Analytics. [Data File]. Retrieved from <https://www.gallup.com/analytics/>..>Google Scholar
Gonzalez-Perez, Margaret. 2011. The False Islamization of Female Suicide Bombers. Gender Issues 28 (1–2):50–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafez, Mohammed M. 2006. Rationality, Culture, and Structure in the Making of Suicide Bombers: A Preliminary Theoretical Synthesis and Illustrative Case Study. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 29 (2):165–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haller, Max, and Hoellinger, Franz. 1994. Female Employment and the Change of Gender Roles: The Conflictual Relationship Between Participation and Attitudes in International Comparison. International Sociology 9 (1):87–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heymann, Philip B. 2002. Dealing with Terrorism: An Overview. International Security 26 (3):24–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horowitz, Michael C. 2010. Nonstate Actors and the Diffusion of Innovations: The Case of Suicide Terrorism. International Organization 64 (1):33–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horowitz, Michael C. 2015. The Rise and Spread of Suicide Bombing. Annual Review of Political Science 18:69–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horowitz, Michael C., and Potter, Philip B.K.. 2014. Allying to Kill: Terrorist Intergroup Cooperation and the Consequences for Lethality. Journal of Conflict Resolution 58 (2):199–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, Haerpfer, C., Moreno, A., Welzel, C., Kizilova, K., Diez-Medrano, J., Lagos, M., Norris, P., Ponarin, E., Puranen, B., et al. . 2014. World Values Survey: All Rounds—Country-Pooled Datafile Version. JD Systems Institute, Madrid. Available at <https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWVL.jsp>..>Google Scholar
Iversen, Tobin, and Rosenbluth, Frances. 2008. Work and Power: The Connection Between Female Labor Force Participation and Female Political Representation. Annual Review of Political Science 11:479–495.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenney, Michael. 2007. From Pablo to Osama: Trafficking and Terrorist Networks, Government Bureaucracies, and Competitive Adaptation. Pennsylvania State Press.Google Scholar
Klouzal, Linda A. 2008. Women and Rebel Communities in the Cuban Insurgent Movement, 1952–1959. Cambria Press.Google Scholar
Korotayev, Andrey V., Issaev, Leonid M., and Shishkina, Alisa R.. 2015. Female Labor Force Participation Rate, Islam, and Arab Culture in Cross-cultural Perspective. Cross-Cultural Research 49 (1):3–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kydd, Andrew H., and Walter, Barbara F.. 2006. The Strategies of Terrorism. International Security 31 (1):49–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laqueur, Walter. 2000. The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction. Oxford University Press on Demand.Google Scholar
Lewis, Jeffrey W. 2007. Precision Terror: Suicide Bombing As Control Technology. Terrorism and Political Violence 19 (2):223–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcus, Raphael D. 2015. Military Innovation and Tactical Adaptation in the Israel–Hizballah Conflict: The Institutionalization of Lesson-Learning in the IDF. Journal of Strategic Studies 38 (4):500–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melander, Erik, Pettersson, Therése, and Lotta. Themner. 2016. Organized Violence, 1989–2015. Journal of Peace Research 53 (5):727–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moghadam, Assaf. 2008. The Globalization of Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad, and the Diffusion of Suicide Attacks. JHU Press.Google Scholar
Mroszczyk, Joseph. 2019. To Die or To Kill? An Analysis of Suicide Attack Lethality. Terrorism and Political Violence 31 (2):346–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murdie, Amanda, and Peksen, Dursun. 2015. Women and Contentious Politics: A Global Event-Data Approach to Understanding Women's Protest. Political Research Quarterly 68 (1):180–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nacos, Brigitte L. 2005. The Portrayal of Female Terrorists in the Media: Similar Framing Patterns in the News Coverage of Women in Politics and in Terrorism. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 28 (5):435–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ness, Cindy D. 2005. In the Name of the Cause: Women's Work in Secular and Religious Terrorism. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 28 (5):353–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nilsson, Marco. 2018. Hard and Soft Targets: The Lethality of Suicide Terrorism. Journal of International Relations and Development 21 (1):101–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Rourke, Lindsey A. 2009. What's Special About Female Suicide Terrorism? Security Studies 18 (4):681–718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pape, Robert A. 2003. The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. American Political Science Review 97 (3):343–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pape, Robert. 2005. Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. Random House.Google Scholar
Patkin, Terri Toles. 2004. Explosive Baggage: Female Palestinian Suicide Bombers and the Rhetoric of Emotion. Women and Language 27 (2):79–88.Google Scholar
Reimers, Cordelia W. 1985. Cultural Differences in Labor Force Participation Among Married Women. The American Economic Review 75 (2):251–55.Google Scholar
Ruddick, Sara. 1983. Pacifying the Forces: Drafting Women in the Interests of Peace. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 8 (3):471–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schweitzer, Yoram. 2006. Palestinian Female Suicide Bombers: Reality Vs. Myth. In Female Suicide Bombers: Dying for Equality, edited by Yoram Schweitzer, 25–50. Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies.Google Scholar
Schweitzer, Yoram. 2007. Palestinian Female Suicide Bombers: Virtuous Heroines or Damaged Goods? In Female Terrorism and Militancy: Agency, Utility, and Organization, edited by Ness, Cindy D., 131–46. Routledge.Google Scholar
Sjoberg, Laura, and Gentry, Caron E.. 2007. Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Women's Violence in Global Politics. Zed Books.Google Scholar
Sjoberg, Laura, and Gentry, Caron E.. 2008. Reduced to Bad Sex: Narratives of Violent Women from the Bible to the War on Terror. International Relations 22 (1):5–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Speckhard, Anne. 2005. Understanding Suicide Terrorism: Countering Human Bombs and Their Senders. In Topics in Terrorism: Toward a Transatlantic Consensus on the Nature of the Threat (Volume I), edited by Purcell, Jason and Weintraub, Joshua, 1–12. Atlantic Council Publication.Google Scholar
Speckhard, Anne. 2008. The Emergence of Female Suicide Terrorists. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 31 (11):995–1023.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Speckhard, Anne. 2009. Female Suicide Bombers in Iraq. Democracy and Security 5 (1):19–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
START. 2018. Global Terrorism Database [Data file]. Retrieved from <http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd>..>Google Scholar
The World Bank Group. 2018. World Bank, Gender Statistics.Google Scholar
Thomas, Jakana L. 2014. Rewarding Bad Behavior: How Governments Respond to Terrorism in Civil War. American Journal of Political Science 58 (4):804–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Jakana L. 2018. Women's Participation in Political Violence. In The Oxford Handbook of US National Security, edited by Revron, Derek S., Gvosdev, Nikolas K., and Cloud, John A., 83–95. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Thomas, Jakana L., and Bond, Kanisha. 2015. Women's Participation in Violent Political Organizations. American Political Science Review 109 (3):488–506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Jakana L., and Wood, Reed M.. 2018. The Social Origins of Female Combatants. Conflict Management and Peace Science 35 (3):215–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Victor, Barbara. 2003. Army of Roses: Inside the World of Palestinian Women Suicide Bombers. St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Von Knop, Katharina. 2007. The Female Jihad: Al Qaeda's Women. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 30 (5):397–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warner, Jason, Chapin, Ellen, and Matfess, Hilary. 2019. Suicide Squads: The Logic of Linked Suicide Bombings. Security Studies 28 (1):25–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warner, Jason, and Matfess, Hilary. 2017. Exploding Stereotypes: The Unexpected Operational and Demographic Characteristics of Boko Haram's Suicide Bombers. Technical report.Google Scholar
Zedalis, Debra D. 2004. Female Suicide Bombers. University Press of the Pacific.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Thomas supplementary material

Thomas supplementary material

Download Thomas supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 963.9 KB