In this article, the authors claim that sometimes women who take part in and support extremism have been been overlooked.

Analysis suggests that 17% of extremist recruits in Africa are women (Rusi).
Another research indicates that 13% of IS foreign recruits in Iraq and Syria are women.
The authors claim that "[t]he exact figure remain vague and could be far higher".

"A number of Rusi-backed studies and others have investigated the roles women play in organisations such as IS and al-Shabab [...]"

The roles played by women vary between groups
In al-Shabab - Women are often seen in more traditional roles such as: wives of fighters, domestic help, and sometimes made to work as sex slaves.
- Women help attract new members.

"One study in Kenya discovered women were lured by others who promised them jobs, financial support and counselling."

"For example, Hidaya (not her real name), a dressmaker, was recruited by a client who offered to invest in and expand her business. She was persuaded to travel to a border region, from where she was smuggled into Somalia.""

In IS
- "[Women] often recruit - especially online - and play an active role in projecting the group's beliefs."
- Women are allowed to serve as doctors and healthcare workers, with certain restrictions
- The group has an all-female morality police force.
- "More recently, as the group lost its territory in Iraq and Syria, it has been willing to place women in frontline roles, using its newspaper al-Naba to call women to jihad, and releasing a video last year showing several in combat in Syria."