Black Widow (Chechnya)

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Black Widow (Russian: чёрная вдова, chyornaya vdova) or Shahidka (Russian: шахидка—Russian feminine gender derivation from shahid), is a term for Islamist Chechen female suicide bombers, willing to be a manifestation of violent jihad.^[1] They became known at the Moscow theater hostage crisis of October 2002.^[2] The commander Shamil Basayev referred to the shahidkas as a part of force of his suicide bombers called the Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs.^[3] Basayev also stated that he himself trained at least fifty of the Black Widows.^[3] The female suicide bombers have carried out over 65% of the 23 terrorist attacks linked to the Chechen movement since 2000.^[4] The Black Widows are associated with terrorist attacks in Chechnya between 1999 and 2005.^[5]

The term "Black Widows" probably originates from these women being widows of men killed by the Russian forces in Chechnya (the connotation of black widow spider is intended). The Black Widows wear black dresses and dark clothing that covers their bodies from head to toe.^[5] This attire is supposed to symbolize their personal losses from the Chechen wars.^[5] In 2003, the Russian journalist Yulia Yuzik coined the phrase "Brides of Allah" (Невесты Аллаха) when she described the process by which Chechen women were recruited by Basayev and his associates;^[6] the phrase was also used again after the Beslan attack, as the title of an installment of the Russian NTV programme Top Secret (Совершенно секретно).

Furthermore, to terrorists, Black Widows are considered less valuable than male terrorists, since male terrorists require formal training, while women terrorists are viewed as expendable.^[7] In some cases, when opinions do not match between Black Widows and male terrorists, male terrorists detonate bombs strapped onto Black Widows to get rid of them.^[8] Additionally, women terrorists are strategically appealing because they symbolize opposing their traditional roles of being obedient, also women terrorists arouse less suspicion, which terrorists groups are able to take advantages of.^[9][10] Between 1998 and 2001, according to professor Richard Pape of University of Chicago, the average number of deaths caused by a suicide attack is 13 people, while the average deaths caused by suicide attacks from Black Widows is 28, meaning they are twice more deadly than the average suicide bomber.^[11]

There are currently forty-seven Chechen Female bombers that have been confirmed based on twenty five successful bombings.^[12] These attacks methods include detonating bombs on trucks, cars, usage of explosive devices, or using suicide belts or bags.^[12] Some have even detonated their bombs on airplanes.^[12]

According to Marc Sagement,^[13] who takes part in the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Center for the Study of Terrorism, there is a strong relationship between becoming a Black Widow and having personal connections to terror networks.^[12] In other words, recruitment of Black Widows usually occurs through friendships or familial relationships.^[12] Approximately, twenty seven percent of Black Widows were married or had personal connections to terrorists before becoming terrorists themselves.^[12] Further, Black Widows had similar prior experiences before becoming terrorists.^[12] These prior experiences include losing close family members that resulted from conflicts with the Russian forces.^[12]

Although Chechen suicide bombers do not have personality disorders prior to becoming terrorists, research shows that they have deep personal trauma, which leads them to embrace terrorist ideologies causing them to join the Black Widows.^[12] Furthermore, Chechens believe it is ethically correct to take revenge if one's loved one has died.^[12] Another perspective of how Black Widows form is that after traumatic events, people in general, not just Chechen women, tend to turn to extreme religious views to form a sense of identity and belonging.^[12] Thus, jihadist ideologies provides this medium for Chechen women who experienced extreme post traumatic experiences thus transforming them into Black Widows.^[12] Combined with personal trauma, cultural responsibility for social justice, and extreme religious viewpoints to take revenge, these factors mold Chechen women to become Black Widows.^[12]