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ICCT in the Media: ICCT Press Book "Female Jihadis Facing Justice: Comparing Approaches in Europe"

February 13, 2024

On Tuesday, 13th of February 2024, the French newspaper Le Figaro published an article on the recently released book "Female Jihadis Facing Justice: Comparing Approaches in Europe", including an interview with Marc Hecker and a quote by Thomas Renard.

Marc Hecker discusses the situation of returnee women in France, the risks they may pose and how the French authorities need to focus more on rehabilitation and deradicalisation efforts. "The risk," he explains, "is to see these women transmit their radical values to new generations. Only a minority of them are involved in violence. For others, we should rehabilitate the concept of deradicalisation, often very frowned upon in France, to try to influence their way of seeing the world, Islam and the values of their children."

"In Belgium, Thomas Renard notes that women made up 20% of the 430 departures of jihadists from the kingdom to the Syrian-Iraqi zone. Belgian justice has also convicted more women than its French counterpart, and deprivation of nationality is increasingly applied to those convicted", the newspaper wrote.

Le Figaro also posted a short video of the interview with Mark Hecker on X.

Read the full article (in French): 

L’inquiétante mue des femmes djihadistes