A new report refutes the “common perception” that women kidnapped by terror group Boko Haram only serve as wives for fighters or provide domestic support services like cooking and cleaning, noting that women play a broader range of roles including as recruiters and intelligence operatives.
The report, which was based on interviews with 119 former Boko Haram members and some 60 representatives of Nigerian civil society organisations, was conducted by Finn Church Aid (FCA), The International Dialogue Centre, The Network of Religious and Traditional Peacemakers and the Citizen Research Centre.
It also found that members of Boko Haram are most often recruited by people they already know, such as family, friends and neighbours. Only some 27 per cent of those former fighters interviewed were recruited by people in mosques or madrasas.
Mahdi Abdile – director of research at FCA and at the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, and the co-author of the study – said that in the pre 9/11 world “mosques and madrasas used to be the place to get new recruits”.
“Today that has changed. The results of this study highlight the fact that recruiters are adaptive to the tightening security environment, and more than ever before, that women and young girls are increasingly being targeted for recruitment.”
Females are far more likely to be introduced to the group by force, the study found, with 11 per cent of males interviewed saying they joined as a result of a personal decision compared to only two per cent of females.
Fifty-seven per cent of all those former fighters interviewed said the desire for revenge on the military had a strong influence on their decision to join Boko Haram or was the only reason for it while 43 per cent indicated religion had a strong influence on that decision. Slightly more than 23 per cent said they joined to be respected and feared and 17 per cent stated it was out of a need to belong.
Mr Adile said the large role women were playing in Boko Haram came as a surprise and that the results are at variance with those unearthed in an earlier study of al-Shabaab fighters.
