Make your own decisions, defy patriarchy, ‘ISIS bride’ tells girls targeted by terrorist recruiters

Three years ago, this young woman wanted to follow her love and become a wife of an ISIS fighter. Now she has been released from a Russian prison, wants to dye her hair blue, and choose a down-to-earth profession.

The story of Varvara Karaulova, who went after a young man she loved to join the jihadists in Syria, was quite big in the Russian media in 2015 after she got busted by Turkish law enforcement. Far from being the only victim of terrorist recruiters, she stood out among other marks, who usually come from the predominantly Muslim southern Russia and belong to poor families. Karaulova was the Western-educated daughter of a wealthy businessman, a Christian girl who converted to Islam as part of her failed escape to Syria, and a resident of Moscow studying in the Russian capital’s most prestigious university.

Her attempt to join a terrorist organization resulted in a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence. Last Saturday, she was released early on parole. RT’s Madina Kochenova caught up with the former ‘ISIS bride’ to ask her what she learned from her experience. Karaulova, who is now 23, said the biggest lesson of her story is that women must defy the role imposed on them by patriarchal traditions, and use their own judgement when choosing who to trust and what to believe in.

“Women look up to men in our society. A single woman may have a wonderful career, children even, but would still be perceived as unfulfilled without a man, no matter how bad he is. So girls or women grab on to their men who go [to the Middle East], even if they don’t understand the ideology behind it all,” she said.

You have to appreciate yourself. Your opinion matters. He may say ‘We will go’ – so what? Who cares what he says? You can do without him and probably be better off without him. You may well be a better person than he is!

Karaulova spent two years at a Russian prison after her conviction. Its strict discipline and established routines were difficult for her, she told RT. An event as simple as seeing a kaleidoscope of butterflies on a spring day or expecting a visit from her mother may bring joy for days. Witnessing a violent brawl between inmates erupt from a quarrel for no apparent reason can be haunting.

“I was afraid to get caught up in this sort of aggressive attitude. This sense of having a grudge with the entire world. It was really scary,” she said. “I used to joke that I will come out either as a zen master who cannot be put out of balance by anything or a really angry person. It seems I came out closer to the first option.”

Her advice to people who end up in a situation like hers is: Own the mistakes that you make.

I had a lot of time to think what had happened and why. Thinking about it, going in circles was pretty hard and depressing. There is no escaping it, no matter how much you want to turn the page. This story will always be part of me.

The parole terms will require Karaulova to regularly check in with her supervising officer for a year, but she says even with this restriction of movement there is a lot to do now as a free person. Like put on some bright mascara and dye her hear blue – something that she was not allowed to do in prison.

Her more long-term plan is to get a profession that would be more down-to-earth than what she aspired to before her ordeal. She used to study philosophy at the Moscow State University, but now she says she is considering a career in law.

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