Women and Terrorism in Bangladesh

Throughout the South and Southeast Asian region, the involvement of women in jihadism has been a growing but poorly understood phenomenon. Against this backdrop, this book investigates why Bangladeshi women get involved in jihadist networks; what roles they play in them; and how the Bangladeshi government and security apparatus have reacted to female jihadism. In so doing, it also sheds light on the serious human rights violations that have occurred during Bangladeshi counterterrorism drives. Jasmin Lorch has researched and published extensively on political transformation, civil society, secular-Islamist relations, Islamism, and jihadism both in Bangladesh and beyond. She is the author of "Elite Capture, Civil Society and Democratic Backsliding in Bangladesh, Thailand and the Philippines", published in Democratization; of "Terrorism in Bangladesh: Understanding a Complex Phenomenon", published in Asian Survey; of "Female Terrorism in Bangladesh: Manifestations, Causes and Consequences" (with M Abul Kalam Azad) in The Politics of Terrorism and Counterterrorism, edited by Saimum Parvez and Mohammad Sajjadur Rahman and published by Routledge; of "Islamization by Secular Ruling Parties: The Case of Bangladesh", published in Politics and Religion; and of Civil Society and Mirror Images of Weak States: Bangladesh and the Philippines, published by Palgrave Macmillan. She conducted this present research on women and terrorism in Bangladesh under a freelance contract with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). M Abul Kalam Azad is a researcher and journalist. He has written and published widely on politics, corruption, jihadism, and human rights violations in Bangladesh. Azad holds a postgraduate degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University of Dhaka. He also studied violent extremism at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University under a fellowship program. Azad is the author of "Media Landscapes: Bangladesh," published by the European Journalism Centre (EJC). He also co-authored "Female Terrorism in Bangladesh: Manifestation, Causes and Consequences" (with Jasmin Lorch) in The Politics of Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Bangladesh, edited by Saimum Parvez and Mohammad Sajjadur Rahman and published by Routledge. He is a 2023 Journalist-in-Residence fellow of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECMPF).