Gender, Agency, and Accountability for ISIS Violence: Public Perspectives from Mosul, Iraq

Abstract

What role does gender play in public perceptions of accountability for terrorist and insurgency-related violence? Our research draws on the case of women in the Islamic State (ISIS) in Mosul, Iraq. We evaluate public opinion regarding punishment of ISIS-affiliated women among residents of Mosul as well as within internal displacement camps outside Mosul. We provide a theoretical framework for explaining how beliefs about women’s agency for violence relative to the justice system’s treatment of women factor into holding women accountable for violence. We find that people who recognize women’s agency favor harsher punishments, especially when the justice system is perceived as failing accountability expectations. Mosul residents, who are both more affirming of women’s agency for violence and dissatisfied with the judicial system’s treatment of women, are more punitive than those in the camps. Our research has implications for whether insurgent women will be allowed to re-enter society or face long-term public stigma and abuse.