Lois Frankel: “I want to thank the committee for including language that will authorize the Department of Defense to include the role…”

“I want to thank the committee for including language that will authorize the Department of Defense to include the role of women in their research on the National Strategy on Countering Violent Extremism. Mr. Chairman, we are learning every day that women are active agents deterring or engaging in violent extremist movements. A 2017 report by the organization Futures Without Violence found that several contemporary organizations, for example, the Islamic State and Boko Haram, capitalize on women's efforts and demonstrate keen awareness of the strategic and tactical potential of female extremists. And while many, many more women are victims of terrorism, some are serving as supportive wives and mothers to the next generation of extremists; others are acting as propagandists, fundraisers, and suicide bombers. The apparent proliferation of female actors in extremist groups, often underestimated, calls for strategies that effectively counter their participation in violent extremism.”