Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Middle East, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa))--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Johnson, Thomas H. ; Hafez, Mohammed M. "December 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on January 27, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Suicide terrorism, female suicide bombers, martyrdom, constructivism, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, counterinsurgency, insurgency, Pashtun, Taliban, Haqqani Network, Tamil, LTTE, Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad. Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-156). Also available in print.

The main aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that the female revolutionary is no different from her male compatriot. She enters the organisation in the same manner; she shares the same ideology; she participates equally within the revolutionary organisation; and, if she leaves the struggle, she does so in much the same way as her peers. The thesis uses a framework based upon New Social Movement theory to establish the social and historical context of the women by comparing the following five aspects of a new social movement: historical context, leadership, membership, collective action and group ideology and the revolutionary dimension. Before the three historical narratives on the American Movement, the West German student movement and the Palestinian Resistance Movement are undertaken, a literature review covers Social Movement theory, New Social Movement theory, theories on Violence and Terrorism Studies. The thesis also looks at how women have been gendered in criminology and war and how this gendering has influenced some of the leading research on the female terrorist. In order to show that the female revolutionary is very similar to the male, this thesis examines the three historical narratives mentioned above. After reviewing the social and historical context, the respective new social movement, the role of women in the revolutionary organisations (the Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction and Fateh and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) are reviewed in depth by studying their entry, ideology, group dynamics and exit.

The central hypothesis of this study is that terrorist organizations choose to use females as suicide bombers not only as tactical innovation but also to “signal” or send a message to various audiences. In order to meet the research objectives of this study, two terrorist organizations—the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Chechen Separatists or those individuals associated with the Chechen Resistance—are examined in detail from their inception through 2013 using a structured focused comparison methodology. Evidence is found to support both of the studies’ main hypotheses. First, female suicide bombers are used by terrorist organizations because they are a 1) tactical advantage, and 2) to “signal” or send a message to various audiences. Their “entertainment” or shock value maximizes the psychological punch intended for delivery to a variety of audiences. These two reasons are not mutually exclusive but are colored by contextual considerations unique to each case. While deliberation was given to a variety of socio-political factors unique to each organization—such as popular support for suicide attacks perpetrated by females, indication of rival terrorist organizations, counterterrorism and political events that may have affected the terrorist organizations’ preference for females—insight into the operational characteristics surrounding individual suicide attacks was central in highlighting patterns in the organizational use of female suicide bombers. Those patterns are consistent across both cases and suggest that when females’ use is explained by the tactical innovation model, they are used overwhelmingly in suicide attacks where getting closer to intended targets—usually defined as security and political targets—matter. In contrast, suicide attacks explained by the signaling model are characterized by their novelty usually representing a deviation from terrorist organizations’ operational norms—deemed operational suicide attack anomalies in this study—characterized many times as “only” suicide attacks, “firsts [of that kind of],” or the most spectacular suicide attacks carried out by the organization.