Female IS fighters underestimated
Women who join Isis are being “underestimated” by international security services because of gender stereotypes, the United Nations has warned.
The head of its Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) told The Independent there were a range of different biases in investigations, charging, sentencing and the provision of rehabilitation and reintegration support.
Executive director Michele Coninsx would not comment directly on the Shamima Begum case, but said that governments should “steer away from politicising and sensationalising women’s roles in terrorism”.
Begum, who left the UK to join Isis in Syria when she was 15, is attempting to return to Britain for a legal battle over her citizenship.
Ms Coninsx said several countries had removed jihadis’...