Over the past two years, hundreds of European women around 10% of recruits from the West between the ages of 18 and 25 have traveled to Syria or Iraq to join militant groups like Jabhat al-Nusra or IS or to find love. This number includes at least 70 French, 60 British, 40 German, 20 Belgian and 35 Dutch women. They traveled by themselves to find love or with their husbands, and sometimes with children, female friends or close relatives.

19 year old Vanessa from Netherlands was always a rebellious and spontaneous teen. Someone who liked being the center of attention and didn’t let anybody tell her what to do. After she became a teenager, she was always hanging around “tough boys” from school.

During the summer, Vanessa was in contact with a boy abroad and changed her relationship status on Facebook from “single” to “engaged.”

Vanessa booked a ticket to Turkey, near the Syrian border. According to her mother, the boy she had been talking with over Skype was an Islamic State  (IS) fighter from Europe who had lived in Syria for over a year. After arriving in Turkey, a Turkish family working with IS took her in..”

The next day, fighters picked her up and drove her to Syria. After arriving, she posted a picture of herself on social media, wearing a black face veil. “If Allah wants you to perform hijra [immigration to a Muslim country], he will make sure it happens. Sisters, do not hesitate. It feels like home over here,’’ she wrote.

Two days later, she got married.

Social media plays a crucial role in their recruitment.

Female jihadists portray their life in “the caliphate” as a paradise for Muslims. Snapshots of sunsets, smiling militants with cats and dinners with their Muslim sisters all taken in Bilad al-Sham. They portray a picture of a domestic Islamic life which includes taking care of their husbands and the household.

Marrying a fighter attracts European women. Vanessa told her mother over the phone that she doesn’t want to come back to the Netherlands. Her husband is nice, she said, better than all the other boys she dated. He respects her.