The depiction of women in jihadi magazines: a comparative analysis of Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Taliban and Tahrik-e Taliban Pakistan

In its magazine, Sunnat-e Khola, Tahrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called upon women to rise because the ‘Time of Martyrdom has come’. This research addresses questions surrounding how women are framed in jihadi rhetoric and what roles they play within these frames. Using a mixed-methods approach, we analysed sixty-eight jihadi magazines by Islamic State (ISIS), TTP, Al Qaeda, and Taliban, generating 3,417 codes which were further sorted into relevant contextual categories. These data were analysed through the lenses of social movement framing theory, which highlight the nuances and fine-grain differences among the aforementioned jihadi extremist groups in how women are depicted and how women’s agency within these groups is constructed. A significant finding of this paper is that Al Qaeda and ISIS often show opposite trends in how they depict women within diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational framings. Furthermore, while the TTP has a higher proclivity to follow similar patterns to ISIS, the Taliban shares more similarities with Al Qaeda than any other group. For example, both ISIS and TTP are more likely than the Taliban and Al Qaeda to encourage women to do hijra and join jihad.