Patriarchal Bargaining by Boko Haram’s Female Suicide Bombers during Failed and Intercepted Attacks

Boko Haram is well known for its use of women as suicide bombers. While research has examined why it is occurring and the strategic aspects of using female bombers, none have examined what happens when the bomber is intercepted and what the legal system does and can do in these situations. Given patriarchal social norms and literature suggesting that many bombers are victims of kidnappings and abductions, it could be speculated that the women and girl bombers would surrender if given the opportunity but group pressures and legal consequences may dissuade many from doing so. Utilizing the Global Terrorism Database ( GTD ) and the open-sourced citations provided by the GTD , a complementary qualitative dataset was compiled of which 102 bombing events were included in the final sample. Results of content analysis seek to further the conversation about women who engage in suicide bombings during failed and intercepted attacks.