RT Article T1 Instruments of violence: Female suicide bombers of Boko Haram JF International journal of law, crime and justice VO 58 SP 113 OP 123 A1 Galehan, Jordan LA English YR 2019 UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1685939929 AB Groups engaging in political violence are utilizing women more frequently in operational roles, with females as suicide bombers being the most common role of women in terrorist attack events. In recent years, the trend in female suicide bombers has spiked and sources indicate that this can be attributed to the Boko Haram group in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, which has utilized more women as suicide bombers than any other group in history. Therefore, the present study seeks to address potential reasons for the high levels of women's involvement in suicide attacks by Boko Haram. Results of content analysis of publicly available, open-sourced media materials cited in the Global Terrorism Database suggests that women engaging in suicide bombing events affiliated with Boko Haram are being used as instruments for the group's violent objectives. K1 Boko Haram K1 Content Analysis K1 Female suicide bombers K1 Terrorism K1 Violence DO 10.1016/j.ijlcj.2019.04.001