Machya Astuti Dewi

This paper aims to analyse how the propaganda narrative of ISIS encourages women in Indonesia to commit terrorism. This study contributes to filling gaps in radical movement research by involving gender aspects and narratives in explaining terrorism. This research uses a qualitative method by interviewing former ISIS women to identify how they joined ISIS. Testimonies of former ISIS sympathisers from online media, online magazines, YouTube, and Facebook became secondary sources. The results indicate two aspects. First, Indonesian women are influenced by ISIS through online propaganda on social media. Second, two narrative levels encouraged Indonesian women to join ISIS. The first-level narratives were injustice, unequal law, and infidel governance, which became the initial drivers for women to act terrorism. The second-level narratives were stories about female heroism during the Prophet Muhammad's time that served as reinforcement. To conclude, these findings have implications for the importance of gender-based counter-narratives.