This archive report was first published on 7 August 2019.
On the 25th anniversary of the 1998 US embassy bombing in Nairobi, a disturbing trend has emerged in global terrorism: women are increasingly taking active roles in terror attacks.
According to a United Nations report, women are not only victims of radicalisation but also perpetrators, with many being used as human shields, suicide bombers, and spies.
The report notes that women are often subjected to sexual and gender-based violence, forced and early marriages, sexual slavery, rape, or forced domestic labour, making them victims of crime.
However, they are also being used by terrorists as a means to carry out attacks, with the report citing examples from countries such as Israel, Nigeria, Iraq, the Chechen Republic, and Palestine.
In Kenya, the recent terror attack at DusitD2 is believed to have been aided by Violet Kemunto, wife of one of the attackers, Ali Salim Gichunge.
Published on August 7, 2019, a UN report highlights the complexities of women's involvement in terrorism, advocating for the separation of people convicted of violent extremism from other prisoners.
