Belgian IS women speak out: 'We are mothers, not ticking time bombs'

Four Belgian women who joined the Islamic State group in Syria are speaking out for the first time in a podcast, challenging the persistent image of them as "ticking time bombs" or "willful followers." In the VRT NWS podcast 'Vrouwen van IS' (Women of IS), they share their experiences years after returning from the conflict zone, detailing their radicalization, reasons for traveling to Syria, and what they endured.

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If we had really been ticking time bombs, that time bomb would have already gone off.

Three of the four women have completed their sentences, and the fourth was acquitted. They are testifying under pseudonyms as they attempt to rebuild their lives. Between 2012 and 2015, approximately 500 people from Belgium, including 112 women, joined violent Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq, making Belgium a significant per capita supplier of foreign fighters.

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Looking back now, I can see that I was radicalized. It didn't happen overnight. I had questions about my faith, and eventually, I was only surrounded by people who looked at it very strictly.

Dounia, one of the women, reflects on her past, admitting, "Looking back now, I can see that I was radicalized." She explains that her radicalization was a gradual process, fueled by questions about her faith and immersion in a strictly religious environment. Like Amira, she was involved with Sharia 4 Belgium, a group active in Antwerp and Vilvoorde that aimed to establish a strict version of Sharia law in Belgium. The group was known for street preaching, disrupting lectures, and engaging in riots before its leadership was arrested and convicted in late 2012.

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At that moment, we weren't turning against the West; we just wanted to go and help other Muslims.

Following the group's dissolution, some members continued their activities in Syria amidst a civil war. Amira and Dounia state that their initial motivation was to help other Muslims, not to turn against the West. They traveled with their husbands and brothers, describing their arrival in Syria as if "the only thing missing was a red carpet," a stark contrast to the harsh reality they faced.

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the only thing missing was a red carpet