Women who return home after joining terrorist groups are at risk of re-radicalisation because they are treated too leniently, a new United Nations report warns.

Seen as passive onlookers to terrorism, the popular image of the coerced ‘jihadi bride’ leads authorities to treat them less harshly, according to the report released this week by the United Nation’s Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED).

Sentences handed down to men and women charged with terrorist offences shows relative leniency towards females, according to the report's findings.

“Women... tend to receive more limited rehabilitation and reintegration support, thus putting them at potentially greater risk of recidivism and re-radicalization and potentially undermining their successful reintegration into society,” CTED warns.

Despite the majority of women linked to terrorist groups not joining front-line fighting, researchers warn they often play a major role in spreading ideology and encouraging attacks.