YOUNG GIRLS RECRUITED
Documentary says Islamic State uses tactics developed by pedophiles
Islamic State wants ‘brides’
Recruiters for the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria are attempting to lure Canadian girls — some as young as 13 — to travel abroad to marry them, using tactics straight out of the playbooks of sex traffickers and pedophiles, says a new documentary to be broadcast this weekend.
In Wives of ISIS, which airs Saturday on the Global News investigative series 16x9, a producer poses as a young girl online, attracting the attention of an alleged Islamic State recruiter.
The team created a fake social media profile, that of a 15-yearold conservative Muslim girl and supporter of the radical group. It wasn’t long before she attracted the attention of a man believed to be a recruiter for the group.
“You say you’re gonna have a weekend sleepover,” he says, explaining how she can get away. The key is not to make her parents suspicious.
In the video, the man lays out the route: Edmonton to Calgary, Calgary to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Istanbul. “It sounds complicated, but it’s so simple,” he tells her.
Once there, she will be his wife — under his care and responsibility. His top priority is getting her there safely, especially “because you’re so young.”
The alleged recruiter has posted original photos from the region where the terrorist group is active and is well-connected to other known Islamic State members, said Amarnath Amarasingam, a post-doctoral fellow and radicalization researcher at Dalhousie University who tracks members online.
About 550 women from western countries are living in Islamic State-run territory, says the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Approximately 10 to 15 of them are Canadian, Amarasingam said.
Under Canadian law, underage girls lured for such purposes would be considered sex-trafficking victims. But there is no law in Canada against marrying a terrorist, or any other criminal for that matter, the documentary points out.
Mia Bloom, a professor of security studies at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, who researches the roles of women in terrorism, said the Islamic State recruits western girls in much the same way pedophiles groom their victims online: by building up trust, establishing a secret relationship, then setting up an off-line meeting.
Recruiters often appear freshfaced and young. Women from western countries can be seen as especially valuable for the jihadist cause. “The blonder the better,” she said.
Recruiting sometimes takes place on dating-site formats that “match” young women with group members, but Bloom said in the case of younger girls, Skype or other one-on-one platforms are the media of choice.
Over time, recruiters work to lower any concerns the girls might have about life in the dawla, or state, just as a pedophile would slowly transform a child’s expectations of a normal relationship with an adult.
In some cases, the girls, often high-achieving A-students, are told they will become nurses or teachers. They will join a sisterhood of helpers and make a difference.
“You’re playing on these young girls’ altruistic instincts,” Bloom said.
The Global documentary also features a hidden-camera interview with a 13-year-old Canadian girl who is in love with the idea of joining Islamic State.