Terrorist group IS has proved to be more successful in recruiting Western women than any other jihadist terrorist group. Due to the fall of the caliphate in 2019 more than 20 Dutch women now seek...Show moreTerrorist group IS has proved to be more successful in recruiting Western women than any other jihadist terrorist group. Due to the fall of the caliphate in 2019 more than 20 Dutch women now seek to return. Gentry & Sjoberg (2021) show that politically violent women are often understood as victims, which in turn affects policy decisions. In this research, Postmodern Public Administration Theory (PPAT) and Doty’s Discursive Practice Approach (1993) are combined to expose the dominant discourse on returning Dutch IS-affiliated women. Although the women who seek to return are portrayed in the debates in a neo-Orientalist and traditional way, the findings of this study show that the Second Chamber of the Netherlands does not regard IS-affiliated women as victims, but as perpetrators.Show less
