Thread by @jseldin

"Women are the demographic group w/the lowest overall rate of return from the conflict zone in #Iraq & the #Syria|n Arab Republic" in part due to reluctance of countries to repatriate them, per new brief by @UN_CTED on #ISIS

.@UN_CTED analytical brief "identifies an urgent need to develop more gender-sensitive criminal justice responses, as well as alternative approaches to rehabilitation & reintegration outside the criminal justice system" in order to bring back more women from #ISIS in #Iraq #Syria

"Some States routinely investigate all returnees, regardless of gender; some do so on a case-by-case basis; and some do not investigate women, based on the assumptions that they are “victims”" per @UN_CTED brief

Getting evidence vs #ISIS women a challenge, per @UN_CTED

"While women are often active as online propagandists & recruiters, their involvement in other types of activities, including violence, was less prominently documented online because of #ISIL’s restrictive gender norms"

Some #ISIS women are being tried now for war crimes, such as "outrages upon personal dignity (inhumane and degrading treatment of persons); child recruitment into an armed group; and the killing of a protected person under international humanitarian law" per @UN_CTED

"Several [#ISIS] women,but no men,have been charged w/the war crime of pillage...for living w/their families in houses previously captured&subsequently allocated to them by #ISIL" per @UN_CTED - raises q's re "extent to which a woman’s association w/ISIL was voluntary or coerced"

#ISIS women also being chrged w/"parental abduction of minors & neglect of the duty of care & education towards their children" per @UN_CTED, which notes "The practice of bringing charges relating to parental roles against mothers, but not fathers, reflects a clear gender bias"

Sentencing of #ISIS women problematic

"Initial research suggested that in Western Europe (& North America) women returnees tended to receive more lenient sentences compared to men" per @UN_CTED, citing "gender stereotypes relating to the notion of female victimhood"

"The tendency to view women as passive followers of their husbands continues to prevail &, together with evidentiary challenges, contributes to low rates of conviction and/or shorter or suspended sentences" for #ISIS women, per @UN_CTED brief

Not all #ISIS women treated w/leniency- "There is evidence of women receiving disproportionately harsh sentences compared to men, including life sentences or the death penalty for mere “association”’ with #ISIL fighters" per @UN_CTED

.@UN_CTED warns of future threat from #ISIS women returnees

"Access to rehabilitation and reintegration programs has consequently been limited" per brief "...undermining women’s successful reintegration into society and putting them at potentially greater risk of recidivism"