Category of Work

Article

Publication Title

Women & Criminal Justice

Abstract

Boko Haram first began using the tactic of suicide bombings in 2011 and in 2014 started using female suicide bombers. This research focuses on gender differences in the use of suicide bombers. The data were collected using open sources from June 16, 2011 to June 15, 2018. Using this longitudinal data, trends are described over that 7-year period, focusing on the use of females. A majority of the suicide bombings target civilians in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. More than half of the bombers were women and girls, some as young as 7 years old, whereas there were more than 60 incidents where the bomber was below the age of 15. More female bombers were used to targets civilians, whereas men were used more often to target government, police, and military targets. Female suicide bombers were used in Cameroon, whereas males were used in Nigeria more often. Additionally, females used suicide belts or vests more often, whereas men comprised the overwhelming majority of vehicle-borne suicide bombings. There were coercive aspects in many cases in the use of the women as bombers. The unprecedented use of female suicide bombers, particularly young girls, needs to be a focal point of any policy moving forward

First Page

283

Last Page

302

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2019.1629153

Publication Date

7-16-2019

Comments

This is an original manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Women & Criminal Justice on 16 July, 2019, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2019.1629153.

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