More than 550 Western women have moved to Syria and Iraq to join the “Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria” (ISIS), showing a success of ISIS in attracting women from the West that no
other jihadist group had before. To explain the reasons for such success, it is important to
understand how ISIS lures women from the West, why ISIS persuasion tools are so successful,
what motivates women to join such a notorious terrorist group, famous for its brutal
violence, mistreatment and enslavement of women and what role women expected to play in the
“Islamic State.” Understanding the motives why ISIS Western female migrants left their
Western countries of residence and moved to ISIS-controlled territories is crucial to find
appropriate measures to prevent and stop the radicalization of women, to cut the support
that ISIS receives from its female sympathizers, to properly treat female returnees and to
prepare appropriate measures against women ready to plot against their countries of
residence in the name of ISIS goals.