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Beyond Today

What do we get wrong about female terrorists?

Beyond Today

BBC

News

4.61.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2019

⏱️ 20 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Four years ago, at the age of 15, Shamima Begum ran away from home in East London to marry an Islamic State fighter in Syria. Now she’s 19, has just given birth in a refugee camp - and wants to come home. There has been huge interest in the story, but are we missing out on a bigger and more complex picture when it comes to understanding the role of women in IS? In the second of this series on IS we hear from the BBC’s Daniel De Simone about other foiled terrorist plots and the role women played in hatching them. And academics Joana Cooke and Gina Vale tell us what people get wrong about radicalised women. Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Coan Mixed by Weidong Lin Editor: Philly Beaumont

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:08.6

Hello, I'm Tina Dehealey and this is Beyond Today where we ask one big question about one big story.

0:22.3

Today what do we get wrong about female terrorists?

0:27.0

As Islamic State Falls, one British teenager has has emerged from the last I.S. stronghold in Syria.

0:36.0

You'll probably already know her name.

0:39.0

Shimima Begum.

0:41.0

And four years ago at the age of 15 she ran away from home in East London to marry an Islamic state fighter in Syria.

0:48.0

Well now Shamimas 19 has just given birth in a refugee camp and wants to come home. This is what she had to say

0:56.0

when the BBC's Quentin Somerville spoke to her in Syria.

1:00.1

Myself, yeah, I will admit I was the one that made the choice.

1:04.0

Even though I was only 15 years old I did have I I do have like I could make my own decisions back there. I do have the

1:12.0

like mentality to make my own decision that I did leave on my own

1:14.9

knowing that it was a risk but I would admit it's my fault right now. I just want, I just want forgiveness really, from the UK.

1:26.0

Now, whether you believe she's truly sorry or not, whether you think she should be allowed home or not,

1:32.0

there's no doubt that she sent the media

1:34.8

into a complete frenzy but when we focus on just one woman one teenager in the

1:41.9

entire story of i., do we miss the point and overlook the bigger picture?

1:48.0

Yesterday we spoke to Quentin about the fall of ISIS, and in the second part of our series I've been speaking to

1:55.5

Daniel de Simone who works in the BBC's Home Affairs team and in his work he's

2:01.3

come across plenty of women who've been involved in terrorist activity

2:05.2

and what you're going to hear is some pretty shocking recordings that he shared with us.

2:10.0

There are other girls like Shimima.

...

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