The unforgotten women of the Islamic State

Abstract

The Unforgotten Women of the Islamic State explores the governance of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation through the lives and words of local Iraqi, Syrian, and Kurdish women. While the roles and activities of foreign (predominantly Western), pro-IS women have garnered significant attention, the experiences and insights of local civilian populations have been largely overlooked.

Drawing on the testimonies of 63 local Sunni Muslim and Yazidi women, The Unforgotten Women of the Islamic State exposes the group’s intra-gender stratified system of governance. Eligibility for the group’s protection, security, ‘citizenship’, and entrance into the (semi-)public sphere were not universal, but required convergence with IS’ gender norms, through permanent erasure or at least temporary disguise of certain markers of difference. In some cases, this was directed by a pre-meditated ‘divide and conquer’ strategy, in others, this manifested as unregulated violences at the hands of individual group members, including women.

The structure follows the trajectory of IS’ increasing control of its ‘citizens’ and captive populations, from its militarisation of society; imposition of law and order; provision of goods and services; and intervention in civilians’ private lives. Through analysis of diverse first-hand accounts and the group’s documentation, Vale argues that the presence, exclusion, and victimisation of local civilian women were necessary to the functioning and legitimation of IS’ ‘caliphate’ project, and the supremacy of affiliated men – and women. As a fledgling proto-state, IS needed local Iraqi, Syrian, and Kurdish women. Though far from represented or protected, they were by no means forgotten.

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ORCID for Gina Vale: orcid.org/0000-0001-9383-1417

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