| dc.description.abstract | Why does one jihadist group have more female members than other jihadist groups? Jihadist groups in one sense are the rebel groups that adopt Islamist ideologies. Scholarship in rebel groups have mostly compared female participation across different rebel groups, ideologies, and countries within a certain time period. These studies have proven that rebel groups that espouse Islamist ideologies are having less female participation compared to left-wing rebel groups. Yet, such findings still lack in-depth examination on why one jihadist group appears to have more female members than the other jihadist groups. In order to understand the factors that affect the variation in the number of female members in jihadist groups, I compare two local splinter groups of Boko Haram in Nigeria, Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP). As a point of departure, I use existing datasets from Women in Armed Rebellion Dataset (WARD) and Global Extremism Monitor (GEM), and collect qualitative data, such as female members’ testimonies – drawn from both primary and secondary sources. Coupled with various studies on women’s participation and recruitment into rebel groups, I examine several individual and group level factors that can affect the different numbers of female members in jihadist groups, particularly in JAS and ISWAP. This thesis concludes that group level factors have a significant impact in determining the number of female members in both JAS and ISWAP. | eng |