Gendering the Shamima Begum case: “Jihadi brides” and the victim/perpetrator dichotomy

In February 2015, Shamima Begum and her two friends, all aged 15, travelled from London to Syria to join the newly established Caliphate (Islamic State). In 2021, after a claim brought by her family to bring the young back to England and have a fair trial, the UK Supreme Court decided to strip her of British citizenship. An appeal was then made to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which declared the Secretary of State’s decision lawful. This article wants to offer a gender analysis of the case, which is missed in the Commission’s discussion, by providing an alternative reading of Shamima’s story. Constructed as a monster and as a victim, Shamima’s case shows the perpetration of gender stereotypes as well as Orientalist and islamophobic conceptions about Muslim women. This not only obfuscates our understanding of ISIS women, but it also limits the capacity of governments to properly address the problem of radicalisation in the West.