ISIS always needs new women to marry off to jihadist fighters and they’ve found a new tactic, according to CNN.
Recruiters of women are using tumblr blogs, Instagram feeds, and other social media outlets to spread images of handsome men and women enjoying life together as jihadi and bride. The men have gotten the nickname “jihotties” because of course they did.
The images hint at some of the dangers for women in the caliphate, like losing their husband when he is martyred:
But it leaves out that the women will be forced to remarry when their husbands die. It also leaves out that they can be sold, beaten, stoned, and fined for minor transgressions, according to a former commander of a female unit that shamed and beat women who were immodest in any way.
Even when they’re at home with their husbands, the recruited women may not find they enjoy the life. Many unions are polygamist and women are sometimes passed between family members and fighters.
Girls who have traveled to the caliphate and then attempted to escape have been beaten to death or declared an infidel. According to an article in ISIS’s magazine, forced sex with infidels isn’t rape and should be celebrated.
Other recruitment efforts, like videos by ISIS fighters, promise an idyllic, safe life in the center of ISIS territory where the women are supposedly safe from the fighting.
While being far from the front might protect the women from the Iraqi Army, the Kurds, and other groups, the U.S. and NATO allies are pounding the group with bombs that can hit anywhere in the so-called caliphate.
It’s not the first time ISIS has tried to recruit through carefully orchestrated videos and social media campaigns. They’ve previously released videos of amusement parks filled with kids and urban centers teeming with cars.
Unfortunately, the call of the jihotties appears to be strong. Hundreds of women have been recruited from foreign countries.