Gowrinathan Links Understanding Extremist Female Fighters to Understanding Women's Lives

In a public lecture at the Center for Conflict, Negotiation and Recovery (CCNR) on March 20, Nimmi Gowrinathan discussed the reasons why women join radical movements as fighters. "In order to understand female fighters and shape effective policy, we need to understand the everyday lived experiences of these women," emphasized Gowrinathan.

Gowrinathan identified three factors that shape female extremism: militarization, displacement, and rape. Militarization includes the intrusion of the military and surveillance operations into the most intimate places of society. This presence can determine all aspects of a woman's everyday life from her shopping habits to her personal security. Displacement in refugee camps or other locations can also alter the way a woman views the world. The final factor, rape, can place a woman outside of her family, community, and state in a space of extreme marginalization. Together, these factors influence a woman's daily life and worldview in a way that can contribute to radicalization.

Gowrinathan argued that many in the media and policy worlds make two incorrect assumptions about female fighters. First, they perceive women to be more peaceful or democratic than men. Even female politicians who are proponents of peace and nonviolence can enforce policies that will have violent consequences for marginalized groups like minorities.

Another misleading assumption is that women are only pawns in a greater patriarchal rebellion. Gowrinathan cited examples of female suicide bombers and subsequent media analysis. When reporters research the identities of female suicide bombers, they invariably anchor the women to their relationships with the men around them – husbands, fathers, sons, and others. However, from her experience interviewing Tamil Tigers, Gowrinathan noted that many women had made the choice to die independent of male influence. "The question should not be 'why are women suicide bombers,'" she argued. "The question should be instead 'why are these women suicidal?'"

While it is necessary to go beyond the moment of her violent extremism and explore the deeper story of her life to understand a female fighter, Gowrinathan acknowledges that this can sometimes be difficult to do. "Perhaps we don't ask women about their involvement in radical movements because we would be uncomfortable with the answers," she suggested.

Dr. Nimmi Gowrinathan is a Visiting Professor at City College New York, Director of the Politics of Sexual Violence Initiative. She is also the Executive Producer of the Vice Series, Women in/at War. She writes for Foreign Affairs, Vice News, Huffington Post, Washington Post, and Guernica Magazine. More on her work at www.deviarchy.com, or follow her @nimmideviarchy.