Seran de Leede

Seran de Leede works on the topic of women, gender and political violence as an independent researcher and as an associate fellow for the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT), The Hague. Her research interests include the involvement of women in violent extremist groups and the relevance of gender in understanding and countering/preventing violent extremism.

In her recent publications, she explored the motivations of women to join far-right extremist groups and the lessons learned from German exit/prevent programmes aimed at far-right extremist women; the role of women in De Rode Jeugd (The Red Youth, a violent radical Left group active in the Netherlands in the 1970s); the position of Afghan women towards the Taliban; the relevance of adopting a gender perspective in efforts aimed to counter/prevent violent extremism; the motivations and roles of Western women supporting the Islamic State (ISIS) and the roles (and relevance) of women in jihadist groups from a historical perspective. Most recently, she co-authored a toolkit for professionals working with Islamist radicalized women and girls.

Key Publications:

de Leede, S. “Women in Jihad: A Historical Perspective.” The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 9 (2018)

Bakker, E. and S. de Leede. “European Female Jihadists in Syria: Exploring and Under-Researched Topic”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 6, no. 2 (2015).

de Leede, S. “Afghan Women and the Taliban: An Exploratory Assessment”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 5, no. 1 (2014)