It’s a natural reaction to wonder how anyone could possibly be so stupid whenever you read a headline about young Western women seduced by ISIS recruiters. To throw everything away to, quite literally, get in bed with known terrorists is a path so head-scratching – an idea so objectively poor – that it literally escapes the realm of comprehension. And yet, countless such stories exist. Women who knowingly smuggled themselves into Syria and the not-so-warm embrace of the Islamic State, where a murderous patriarchal theocracy awaits their sacrifice, exist in the thousands. Their stories, sadly, usually end the same: attempts to escape, sexual enslavement, or being stoned to death. And though journalistic queries about the 5 W’s loom large, the who, where, what, and how of their recruitment fade beneath the pressing issue of why. Why would any woman choose this? Why would any woman subject themselves to the will of patriarchal terrorists? Read More
