The Political Effect of Female Terrorists: Do women become empowered when entering male dominated spheres?

This quantitative study aims to investigate mechanisms for female empowerment in the context of conflict by examining whether a female entry into armed rebel, insurgent and terrorist movements can lead to an increase of women represented in politics. Three different hypotheses for the relationship are set: that the effect is positive, that the effect is negative and that there is no effect at all. The study argues that one possible mechanism for the relationship is that female rebels become role models for other women when entering the male dominated domain of a rebel movement. These women disrupt and question existing gender hierarchies and ideas of what it means to be a woman. By expanding the idea of what women are capable of doing, these women could inspire other women to enter other male dominated spheres, such as decision-making domains in politics, and hence gain political power. The method for examining this possible mechanism is OLS linear regression between the dependent variable women in parliament and the independent variable women in rebel movements. The result found is that there is a significant positive effect, meaning that the prevalence of women in rebel movements do actually affect the prevalence of women in politics in post- or present- conflict countries around the world. The conclusion is therefore that, at least in militarized societies, women as a group can become empowered when some women enter male dominated spheres as this believably unties the traditional idea of the capabilities of women.