Late last week, Great Britain launched an urgent hunt for three girls — Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and an unidentified 15-year-old friend — who left home Tuesday and flew to Turkey, apparently en route to join Islamic State in Syria. Family members pleaded with the young women to return home, but the case also prompted a look at how ISIS attracts young Western women to join its cause, and why girls 15 and younger heed that call.
According to a report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, up to 550 females have left the West to join ISIS, including some 50 from Britain. So, "why do they go?" Duke law professor Jayne Huckerby tells the New York Post. "In many cases it's the same reason as men": Adventure, alienation at home, even attraction to the brutal violence. Dr. Erin Saltman at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue elaborates in an interview with BBC News. Watch below. —Peter Weber
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