Why More Women Are Being Suspected of Terrorism

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A terrorism expert from the University of Indonesia, Solahudin, revealed that until December 2022, more than 55 women were suspected to be involved in terrorism cases in Indonesia. This figure has increased more than 5 times from the era before ISIS. The role played by women is also more active, ranging from involvement in radicalization to recruiting for terrorist acts.

Solahudin explained that one of the reasons for this is the change in terrorist group strategies such as ISIS. Media, unwittingly, also plays a role.

According to him, terrorist acts involving women have a high "news value." Men blowing themselves up is considered "normal," but when women do the same, it attracts extraordinary attention.

"Let's compare if a man blows himself up, the news about it might not be as viral or as valuable as when a woman does it," said Solahudin at a discussion and book launch event titled Keluar dari Jerat Kekerasan (Breaking Free from Violence) in Jakarta, Friday, July 4, 2025.

According to Solahudin, terrorist groups exploit this as a strategy to spread widespread fear and gain maximum media exposure.

Solahudin mentioned that the shift in ideology also plays a key role. Al-Qaeda declared that jihad is not obligatory for women. Meanwhile, ISIS allows women to be directly involved in terrorist actions when the law of jihad shifts to fardu 'ain.

This narrative became stronger when ISIS began to be pressured in 2006-2007. Spiritual promises, like the ability to intercede for 72 family members including a father considered a kafir, became a strong attraction for women.

"Terrorist groups are also cunning in exploiting loopholes in surveillance. Law enforcement that previously monitored more men is now circumvented by using women and children who are "outside their monitoring" as strategic actors," said Solahudin.

The author of the book Keluar dari Jerat Kekerasan, Leebarty Taskarina, highlighted the impact of gender role transformation, where previously Al-Qaeda only placed women as companions or mothers of their children. According to Leebarty, now women are perceived to have higher knowledge and belief in the ideology they adhere to, which drives these women to become militants.

"Even if, for example, her husband only wants to declare loyalty to the Republic of Indonesia just to alleviate official announcement, she would want to divorce her husband," said Leebarty at a public book launch event today.

The Head of the Bali Densus 88 Regional Police Special Detachment Police Chief Commissioner Didik Novi Rahmanto mentioned that suicide bombing incidents involving women and children in Sibolga in 2019 and Surabaya in 2018 are tangible evidence of this role shift.

Women can now even be provoked and recruited as active supporters of ISIS, and even hold positions as propagandists or leaders.

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