More Australian Women Are Joining Islamic State, Julie Bishop Finds No Logic

Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop said that around 40 women from the country were known to have participated in terrorist activities in the Middle East. Bishop in Parliament confirmed the figure.

The Foreign Minister also said that there was an "increasing number of young females" getting involved in Islamic State. According to Bishop, the women are either joining their militant husbands in their activities, or looking for potential partners while providing support for terrorist groups.

The Aussie FM, Julie Bishop further added that while everyone was aware of how “Daish” treated women, the increasing involvement of women in the organisation defied logic.

Bishop later referred to Amira Karroum from the Gold Coast. The 22-year-old Australian woman was murdered a few days after arriving in Syria in 2014. She was believed to have gone to the Middle Eastern country to join her husband Tyler Casey in the fight.

Bishop said that the militant group had previously published instructions on how to treat sexual slaves. Their instructions included beating and raping women, she said. "Even children are not immune, with instructions encouraging sexual assault on girls who have not yet reached puberty," Bishop added.

Karroum was born to a secular Muslim father. Her mother is from New Zealand. Her father ran away from Lebanon and came to Australia to build a multi-million-dollar restaurant business. Karroum attended St Hilda's School Gold Coast and then QUT to study graphic design.

Karroum’s husband was born in Adelaide but moved to Redcliffe in his childhood. After his mother’s remarriage, he had a “fundamentalist Christian” upbringing with his three younger half-brothers. Casey moved to the United States when he was 13. He soon got involved in petty criminal activities in the city of Colorado Springs.

In another instance, Julie Szego from The Age referred to three young British girls who had run away from London to Turkey to join IS forces. One of the girls, Shamima Begum, used her sister’s passport and managed to avoid detention. She wrote that around 550 women from across Europe have so far joined IS fighters in Iraq and Syria.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au