women under ISIS

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Women under ISIS
Introduction
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was originally a fall apart group of al-Qaida. It is a terrorist organization whose objective is to establish a caliphate. Caliphs are believed to be second in command to Prophet Mohamed. They wield strong political and religious leaders. ISIS activities target countries with Islamic majorities with nonexistence governments like Syria, Libya and Iraq. If they succeed to establish caliphates in these countries, they want to create governments ruled by Sharia laws. Such governments would be similar to the ancient societies of Islam. The group is ruthless and kills enemies by crucifixion, beheading, and execution. Women play an active role in ISIS because they facilitate recruitment, training, fighters, enforce Sharia laws and are used to collect intelligence for the terrorist group. In some incidences, they arrange marriages by providing ‘brides’ for fighters. According to rules of ISIS, women are not victims but rather are accomplices who help terrorist organizations achieve their roles by carrying out assigned duties.
Women carry out recruitment for the ISIS at family and community levels. At a family level, women ensure that their family members join ISIS. They provide their sons and even spouses to join ISIS who carry out combat functions. At the community level, women carry out secrete recruitments on social media, at mosques and Madrasas (Islamic classes). On social media, they target countries like US, UK, France, Kenya, and so on.

They carry out sensitization among their members on the need to join ISIS to protect Islamic beliefs and improve social status in the family. After recruitment, women carry out induction training to newly recruited women. During induction training, they teach newly hired women how to conduct themselves according to Sharia laws, how to relate to men, how to put on their dressing and the kind of cosmetics and jewelry which are allowed in Islam (Pool 12).
Women in ISIS also act military police officers who ensure that Sharia law is respected to the letter. They ensure that the mode of dressing complies and that perfumes or any other kind of jewelry are not put on by women under them. Those who violate the code of conduct are punished by 40 strokes of cane and women police officers execute these punishments. One of the requirements of marriage under Sharia law is that the bride should be virgin at the time of marriage. There is a prescribed punishment for those who are found to have had sexual contact before marriage. Women police in ISIS carry out the task of confirming virginity and punishing those who are found to be noncompliant (Pape 18).
The role of women of ISIS in combat cannot be over emphasized. Women are the best martyrs because they are less likely to be suspected or spotted by law enforcers, for instance, the Paris attack by Hayat Boumeddiene and the White Widow attack in Kenya where many innocent people lost their lives. In fact, women jihadists are the more dangerous than their male counterparts. They can travel without raising suspicion and are preferred smugglers of ammunition, food supplies, grenades and other explosives and guns for fighters and fellow jihadists. Women are also good in mobilizing resources required to sustain fighting by fundraising (Weiner 9).
ISIS acknowledges that women hold a special position in the entire movement and fulfillment of its objectives. They claim that their aspiration is to create a state with an origin as any other society in the world. These objectives cannot be achieved without involving women to take part in the fight to create the state just as women will be needed to assume defined roles once the state is created. ISIS vision is to establish an everlasting society, and women will be the glue of that society by solidifying families across the world from countries Europe, Asia and Africa.
Women captured/held as slaves
These include women who have been forced to join ISIS by capture and considered to be holding an opinion different from the terrorist group. An example of such a case is the Mosul case in Iraq where over 2,000 Yazidi women and girls were captured. These women do not enjoy the privileges like those of other converted ISIS women. They are considered expensive to handle because they can easily escape whenever an opportunity arises. These women are treated like chattels and commodities available for sell by militants. They are mainly used as slaves and tools for sexual satisfaction by militants.
In conclusion, ISIS treats all their loyal women as equal partners in their militant mission of creating an Islamic state. Women help in carrying out the organization’s activities and their role ranges from recruitment, training, collecting intelligent, fundraising, fighting, smuggling weapons and ammunition, providing brides for marriage and nursing wounded fighters. This treatment is guided by Sharia laws which explain the relationship between Islam women and men. However, fair treatment is not extended to captured women who do not share in the ideals of Sharia laws, unless they convert and become loyal members.

Works Cited
Pape, Robert. “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism.” American Political Science Review,
vol. 97, no.3, pp.1–19.
Pool, Jeffrey.”Zarqawi’s Pledge of Allegiance to Al-Qaeda: From Mu’Asker Al-Battar, Issue 21.”
Terrorism Monitor. Vol.2, no.24, pp. 1-15.
Weiner, Tim. “Revolution”. Enemies: a history of the FBI. Random House.