Women and girls are joining Isis after being seduced by the terrorist group’s offer of a twisted version of “empowerment” for Muslims, a new report has found.

The research, by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), said the reasons that drove hundreds of women to journey from Europe to Isis territories were “complex”.

Emily Winterbotham, the report’s co-author, said the use of the term “jihadi bride” to describe all female Isis members was reductive.

“Our research shows that narrative has influenced people’s perceptions of female radicalisation,” she told The Independent.

“Most people we interviewed believed women had been lured over to Isis by men, social media and marriage, with the men being the bad ones.

“There’s an implied rationality around male radicalisation and passivity around women … but the decision-making process of these individuals isn’t only about being manipulated and brainwashed – there’s a clear rationale.”

Possible draws were found to include “a rejection of Western feminism, online contact with recruiters who offer marriage and adventure, peer or family influence, adherence to Isis ideology, naivety and romantic optimism, and the chance to be part of something new, exciting and illicit”.

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Ms Winterbotham, a senior research fellow at RUSI, and co-author Elizabeth Pearson, a RUSI associate fellow and a PhD candidate in war studies at King’s College London, conducted their research in the UK, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

After speaking to men and women who knew female Isis supporters or worked in de-radicalisation programmes, they found that some women saw the so-called Islamic State as a source of “empowerment” despite its subjugation of women, violent enforcement of its interpretation of Sharia law and genocide against the Yazidis.

Some respondents told researchers women who joined Isis were “deliberately seeking to challenge both traditional and Western-imposed gender norms, by seeking a new identity for themselves”.

Communities said the urge was partly being driven by “exclusion from wider society”, particularly in countries with burqa bans, such as the Netherlands and France, where they felt they could not express their religion how they wished.

Like recent research focused on returned male foreign fighters, the report found that radicalisation was also driven by grievances including Islamophobic attacks, economic disadvantage, a perceived lack of belonging and failed integration.

A lack of acceptance from within Muslim communities, particularly divides with family members not thought to be pious enough, was also believed to “enable women to find a sense of belonging and empowerment with Daesh [Isis].

Ms Winterbotham said that those living in highly conservative religious families could also be made vulnerable to Isis propaganda by having less freedom to travel outside and spending more time with radical influences online.

Timeline: The emergence of Isis Show all 40 1 /40 Timeline: The emergence of Isis Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2000 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (pictured here) forms an al-Qaeda splinter group in Iraq, al-Qa’eda in Iraq. Its brutality from the beginning alienates Iraqis and many al-Qaeda leaders. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2006 Al-Zarqawi is killed in a U.S. strike. Al-Zarqawi’s successor, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, announces the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2009 Still al-Qaeda-linked ISI claims responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 155 in Baghdad, as well as attacks in August and October killing 240, as President Obama announces troop withdrawal from Iraq in March. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2010 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi becomes head of ISI, at lowest ebb of Islamist militancy in Iraq, which sees last U.S. combat brigade depart. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2012 In Syria, protests (pictured here starting in Daree) have morphed into what president Assad labelled a “real war” with emergence of a coalition of forces opposed to Assad’s regime. Syria group Jabhat al-Nusra are among rebel groups who refuse to join, denouncing it as a “conspiracy”. Bombings targeting Shia areas, killing more than 500 people, spark fears of new sectarian conflict. Sunni Muslims stage protests across country against what they see as increasingly marginalisation by Shia-led government. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2013 Al-Baghdadi renames ISI as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or Isis, as the group absorbs Syrian al-Nusra, gaining a foothold in Syria. In response, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri (Bin Laden’s successor) concerned about Isis’ expansion orders that Isis be dissolved and ISI operations should be confined to Iraq. This order is rejected by al-Baghdadi. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - January Isis fighters capture the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, giving them base to launch slew of attacks further south. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis declares itself the Caliphate, calling itself Islamic State (IS). The group captures Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city; Tal Afar, just 93 miles from Syrian border; and the central Iraqi city of Tikrit. These advances sent shockwaves around the world. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Around the same time Isis releases a video calling for western Muslims to join the Caliphate and fight, prompting new evaluations of extremists groups social media understanding. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis take Baiji oil fields in Iraq - giving them access to huge amounts of possible revenue. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August James Foley is executed by the group as concerns grow for second American prisoner, fellow reporter Steven Sotloff. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August Obama authorises U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, helping to stall Isis’ along with action by Kurdish forces following the deaths of hundreds of Yazidi people on Mount Sinjar. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release video showing Steven Sotloff’s murder prompting Western speculation his executioner is same man who killed Mr Foley. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Obama tells us that America “will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country” EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release a video appearing to show David Haines, who was captured by militants in Syria in 2013, wearing an orange jumpsuit and kneeling in the desert while he reads a pre-prepared script. It later shows what appears to be the aid worker's body. Rex Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Peshmerga fighters scrabble to hold positions in the Diyala province (a gateway to Baghdad) as Isis fighters continue to advance on Iraqi capital. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Aid worker Alan Henning is killed. Self-imposed media blackout refuses to show images of him in final moments, instead focuses upon humanitarian care. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Isis raise their flag in Kobani, which had been strongly defended by Kurdish troops. The victory goes against hopeful western analysis Isis had overextended itself, while alienating much of the Muslim population through the murder of Henning. Victory causes fresh waves of Kurdish refugees arriving in Turkey. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - November American hostage, who embarced values of Islam, Peter Kassig and 14 Syrian soldiers are shown meeting the same fate as other captives. But intelligence agencies will be poring over the apparently significant discrepancies between this and previous films. Seramedig.org.uk Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis has released a video revealing the murder by burning to death of a Jordanian pilot held by the group since the end of December 2014. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have released videos which appear to show the beheading of Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February American aid worker, Kayla Mueller was the last American hostage known to be held by Isis. She died, according to her captors, in an airstrike by the Jordanian air force on the city of Raqqa in Syria, though US authorities disputed this. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have posted a gruesome video online in which they force 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian hostages to kneel on a beach in Libya before beheading them. Egypt vowed to avenge the beheading and launched air strikes on Isis positions. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February The British Isis militant suspected of appearing in videos showing the beheading of Western hostages has been named in reports as Mohammed Emwazi from London. Rex Features Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - March Isis triple suicide attack has killed more than 100 worshippers and hundreds of others were injured after the group members targeted two mosques in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Iraqi forces have claimed victory over Isis in battle for Tikrit and raised the flag in the city. EPA/STR Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan that killed at least 35 people queuing to collect their wages and injured 100 more. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis’ media arm released a 29-minute video purporting to show militants executing Ethiopian Christians captives. The footage bore the extremist group’s al-Furqan media logo and showed the destruction of churches and desecration of religious symbols. A masked fighter made a statement threatening Christians who did not convert to Islam or pay a special tax. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis has been "incapacitated" by a spinal injuries sustained in a US air strike in Iraq. He is being treated in a hideout by two doctors from Isis’ stronghold of Mosul who are said to be "strong ideological supporters of the group". Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis has also claimed responsibility for killing 300 of Yazidi captives, including women, children and elderly people in Iraq AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis attack on Prophet Mohamed cartoon contest in Texas was its first action on US soil. Two gunmen were shot and killed after launching the attack at the exhibition. Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi have been named as the attackers at the Curtis Culwell Centre arena in Garland. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis’s deputy leader, Abu Alaa Afri, a former physics teacher who was thought to have taken charge of the deadly terrorist group, has been killed in a US-led coalition airstrike. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May US special forces have killed a senior Isis leader named as Abu Sayyaf in an operation aiming to capture him and his wife in Syria. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Iran-backed militias are sent to Ramadi by the Iraqi government to fight Isis militants who completed their capture of the city. Government soldiers and civilians were reportedly massacred by extremists as they took control and the army fled. Charred bodies were left littering the city streets as troops clung on to trucks speeding away from the city. Ramadi is the latest government stronghold to fall to the so-called Islamic State, despite air strikes by a US-led international coalition aiming to stop its advance in Iraq and Syria. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis rounded up civilians trapped in Palmyra and forced them to watch 20 people being executed in the historic city’s ancient amphitheatre. The Unesco World Heritage site was overrun by militants, threatening the future of 2,000 year-old monuments and ruins. Thousands of Palmyra’s residents fled but many are still living within the city walls, while the UN human rights office in Geneva said it had received reports of Syrian government forces preventing people from leaving until they retreated from the city. Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May A group of Isis-affiliated fighters have captured a key airport in central Libya. The militants took control of the al-Qardabiya airbase in Sirte after a local militia tasked with defending the facility withdrew from their positions. Affiliates of Isis, already control large parts of Sirte, the birthplace of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and a former stronghold of his supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June The US Air Force has destroyed an Isis stronghold after an extremist let slip their location on social media. According the Air Force Times, General Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, said that Airmen at Hulburt Field, Florida, used images shared by jihadists to track the location of their headquarters before destroying it in an airstrike. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Kurdish forces captured a key military base in a significant victory in Raqqa as well as town of Tell Abyad. YPG fighters, backed by US-led airstrikes and other rebels, consolidated their gains, when they seized the key town on the Syria-Turkey border. They are now just 30 miles to the north of Raqqa and have cut off a major supply route deep inside Isis-held territory. Ahmet Silk/Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has released gruesome footage claiming to show the murder of more than a dozen men by drowning, decapitation and using a rocket-propelled grenade as it seeks to boost morale among its fanatical supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has begun carrying out its threat to destroy structures in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, blowing up at least two monuments at the Unesco-protected site as Syrian government troops made advances on the Islamist’s positions. AFP

“We talked to women who hadn’t been radicalised but could understand why some of these girls might have gone to Syria and Iraq so they could live as ‘good Muslims’,” she said.

“Isis has been successful at selling that image to women. It’s not just about the naïve vulnerable jihadi bride, it’s women saying: ‘This is in line with my religion, my political beliefs, the fact I want to live how I want’.”

The author said the concept of “empowerment” differed from what would be shared by most non-Muslim Western women, being seen through a dominantly religious lens.

“Women are saying ‘this is empowering for me’ but the irony is that’s not going to happen once they get there,” she added.

Isis has directly targeted female recruits to migrate to its territories as part of its aspiration to build a functioning “caliphate” needing wives and mothers to bear children trained to become the “next generation” of terrorists.

Women have been stoned, whipped and murdered for offences under Sharia law, while at least one jihadi bride – Austrian teenager Samra Kesinovic – is known to have been beaten to death while trying to escape.

While the role of women is strictly restricted in Isis territories, with dress, movement and marriage all strictly controlled, fanaticism is rewarded with limited freedoms such as being allowed into female-only Sharia police forces or permitted to go online to bring “sisters” back home into the fold.

A picture of Isis-controlled Raqqa in Syria shared on Aqsa Mahmood's tumblr account (tumblr)

British women are among some of the most prominent online radicalisers and propagandists, including the “White Widow” Sally Jones, who is reportedly attempting to flee Raqqa, Khadijah Dare Aqsa Mahmood, a former Scottish university student, who has been put under international sanctions for her role as an online recruiter.

Under the online pseudonym Umm Layth, she operated now-deleted social media accounts and blogs calling for terror attacks, romanticising life under Isis and issuing detailed instructions for women wishing to travel to its territories.

“We are created to be mothers and wives - as much as the western society has warped your views on this with a hidden feminist mentality,” she wrote.

The narrative is typical of Isis’ own propaganda, which portrays women as valued supporters with agency within their families, who gain status from their husbands’ perceived glory.

A recent article instructing women to “Be a Supporter, Not a Demoraliser” as the group’s territory wanes, concluded: “Such is the condition of the believing wife with her husband, and such is the condition of the believing mother with her son, letting him go forth on his way to wage jihad against the enemies of Allah, doing what Allah commanded him to do, and by Allah’s permission, she will receive a portion of his deed.”

The number of foreign women living in the so-called Islamic State is uncertain. A 2014 report estimated that 18 per cent all European Isis members were female and the total number is now believed to be more than 550.

Aqsa Mahmood and another woman in Syria in a picture tweeted in 2014. (Twitter)

The Metropolitan Police suggested that more than 56 women and girls had travelled to Iraq and Syria from the UK by early 2015 and the number is believed to have risen considerably since.

A global crackdown on travel to Isis territory and increasing preventative arrests have brought the exodus to a halt but a growing number of women are becoming involved in terror plots on home soil.

A 17-year-old girl from London who attempted to travel to Syria has been charged with colluding with Isis to plan an atrocity in the UK.

After she was prevented from reaching Syria in August last year, she allegedly “married” an Isis fighter in the country over the online messaging service Skype and arranged to receive weapons training, hand grenades and a gun for the attack.

RUSI’s report noted that women were involved in Isis’ Paris attacks in 2016 and a number of recently disrupted plots, warning that assumptions about women’s “passivity in radicalisation” could be making the process more difficult to spot.

Among the signs seen in the report were changes to clothing and appearance, relationships, hobbies, a fresh interest in politics and foreign affairs, justifying Isis and attempts to “convert” relatives or censor them for “un-Islamic behaviour”.