Story highlights
- Women in ISIS usually are relegated to stay at home serving as wives and mothers
- However, experts note Wednesdays suicide bomb was a defensive act against police storming the apartment
This story was written based on preliminary information from French authorities who indicated the woman killed in the Saint-Denis raid detonated a suicide vest she was wearing. French officials announced Friday that it was a man who detonated his vest.
(CNN)Cornered
and under fire in Saint-Denis apartment on Wednesday, a defiant
26-year-old Hasna Ait Boulahcen screamed back at French police before
detonating a suicide vest.
A relative of one of Abdelhamid Abaaoud,
the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks, Boulahcen's presence at
the time of the police raid has raised questions about her role in the
massacre, and the role of women as potential ISIS front line fighters.
In recent months, horrific stories have emerged of the sexual slavery of
women and girls by ISIS, some of whom have been bought and sold at
slave markets. Could the blast detonated by Boulahcen be a sign that
women's role with ISIS ranks is changing?
Why do some women join ISIS? 07:54
"It's certainly ISIS' first female suicide bomber," said Mia Bloom, author of "Bombshell: The Many Faces of Women Terrorists."
"Up
until now ISIS has been very clear. The role for women is cooking,
cleaning and childcare. They do not have women on the front lines," she
said.
Passive agents or frontline jihadis?
A January report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ICSR) said ISIS has been appealing more to women and girls in its propaganda.
"ISIS
has increased its female-focused efforts, writing manifestos directly
for women, directing sections of its online magazine publications Dabiq
to the 'sisters of the Islamic State' and allowing women to have a voice
within their recruitment strategy -- albeit via social media," the
report said.
ISIS terrorists 'hijack Islam' to rape women 03:34
ISIS
sees women as crucial in growing the population of jihadi loyalists,
the report said, so that the Islamic State survives and expands beyond
this generation.
In many cases, women are also seen as "safe" recruits, especially if they're related to a male fighter, Bloom said.
"It's
a fantastic vetting mechanism for the terrorist organizations. They are
always worried about being infiltrated and so if someone is related to
an existing member they feel that they're most trustworthy. So this is
something we see -- it's all in the family," she said.
Is the blast a game-changer?
Bloom said it's unclear if the Boulahcen's death by suicide-blast in Paris will impact ISIS' use of women in their push to establish an Islamic State.
ISIS women taking leadership roles 02:26
"Whether
it's a game-changer is really going to depend on what is the reaction
-- are the ISIS fanboys and the rank and file going to celebrate this
woman? Or are they going to say, 'We really don't approve. We prefer our
women at home, under the veil, cooking, cleaning and giving birth to
little mujahideen'?"
Nikita Malik, a
senior researcher at the Quilliam Think Tank, told Christiane Amanpour
she believes the detonation of Wednesday's suicide bomb by a woman is
more of an exception than the norm.
"It
was done more of a defense mechanism rather than as an act of violence.
Islamic State has said in its propaganda many times women are to remain
in the home and really their participation in jihad is more nurturing
role as a mother and a wife," she said.
Military
analyst, Lt. General Mark Hertling told CNN that he's observed that
female suicide bombers in other terrorist organizations often are acting
out of last resort, as they have no status in those societies if their
husband dies.
"The spiritual
advisers in some of these terrorist groups say, 'Why not take the easy
way out and go to heaven and take a few infidels with you? In many of
these cases it is an action of last resort for some of these young
women."
More women joining the caliphate
Blogger romanticizes life with ISIS 03:17
Regardless of their exact role within the group, the threat of western women of becoming radicalized is looming large.
Malik
said countering the increasing number of women going to Syria to join
ISIS requires not just debunking the romantic myths of finding a strong
fighter husband but theological ideas too.
"I
know it sounds like a contradiction, because once they get there their
lives are limited but somehow they think this is divinely mandated. A
response to it would have to deal with the theological inaccuracies in
some of the propaganda they've revealed as well''
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