We refuse to treat women terrorists with the same seriousness and concern as men. The skepticism increases their danger. When President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January, he will face a shifting extremism landscape. Among the evolutions is the growing role of women in extremist groups, and the new commander-in-chief would be wise to take a fresh approach to this threat. Downplaying the phenomenon or misrepresenting what drives it, as so many previous administrations have done, will only make it worse. Take QAnon, which will be chief among the Biden national security team’s concerns. The cultlike conspiracy movement believes President Donald Trump was divinely elected to save the world from a Satan-worshipping cabal of blood-drinking pedophiles that controls many in the media, Hollywood and the Democratic Party. QAnon will soon have a presence in Congress through newly elected Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado. Many of the acts of violence QAnon has inspired have been perpetrated by women. Most notably, Jessica Prim, a female QAnon supporter carrying a dozen knives, was arrested in May after authorities alleged that she had livestreamed her expedition to New York City to “take out” Biden. In Texas in August, another QAnon-supporting woman was charged with aggravated assault after, authorities alleged, she rammed her car into other people she believed were involved in the kidnapping of children. With women constituting the majority of QAnon followers, we should not be surprised that more women are involved in plots of violence. And the disproportionate participation of women in QAnon is not accidental. QAnon, like the Islamic State militant group, understands that the best way to appeal to women is by exploiting their inherent altruism and desire to protect children. While many far-right appeals to “save the white race” or “save individual liberties” have proven popular with angry or disillusioned young men, QAnon’s “save the children” narrative evokes a more visceral — even maternal — reaction among women. Both women accused of being QAnon attackers mentioned above were crying when they were arrested, the latter reported to have insisted that the intended victim “was a pedophile and had kidnapped a girl for human trafficking.” More generally, QAnon women are using social media with soft pastel hues to disseminate the conspiracy throughout North America and internationally.
By Farah Pandith, adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Jacob Ware, research associate for counterterrorism at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Mia Bloom, international security fellow at New America
via nbc: Female extremists in QAnon and ISIS are on the rise. We need a new strategy to combat them
By <a rel=”nofollow” class=”external text” href=”https://www.flickr.com/people/37996583933@N01″>Marc Nozell</a> from Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA – <a rel=”nofollow” class=”external text” href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcn/48555555282/”>QAnon nutter</a>, CC BY 2.0, Link