U.S. flag
      An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.
        Here's how you know
      Here's how you know**Official websites use .gov**
            
            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
      **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
            
            A **lock** (
            A locked padlock
            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Menu

      
        close

            
            
                                              About NIJ
        
                    
  
          About NIJ
      
    
          The NIJ Director
          How NIJ Is Organized
          Mission and Guiding Principles
          Research and Development Process
          Strategic Framework
          Assessments of NIJ
          Annual Reports & Reports to Congress
          Staff Directory
          Funding & Awards
        
                    
  
          Funding & Awards
      
    
          Current Funding
          Forthcoming Funding
          Expired Funding
          Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
          Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
          Fellowship & Student Programs
          Travel Scholarships
          NIJ Challenge Program
          Library & Multimedia
        
                    
  
          Library & Multimedia
      
    
          NIJ Journal
          Podcasts
          Publications Listing
          Multimedia Listing
          Rated Practices on CrimeSolutions
          Rated Programs on CrimeSolutions
          Software & Databases
          Datasets
          Patents
          Topics
        
                    
  
          Topics
      
    
          Article Listing
          Corrections
          Courts
          Crime Prevention
          Crimes
          Drugs and Crime
          Equipment and Technology
          Forensic Sciences
          Youth Justice
          Justice System Reform
          Law Enforcement
          Tribal Crime and Justice
          Victims of Crime
          Events
        
                    
  
          Events
      
    
          NIJ 2024 Research Conference
          Scheduled Events
          On-Demand Events
          Research Meetings & Workshops
          NIJ-Hosted Online Training

                            
                                About
          Contact Us
          Subscribe
          Topics A-Z
                  Share
FacebookXLinkedInRedditPinterestEmail Home
                            Funding & Awards
 Social Media As a Platform for Crafting Gender-Specific Interventions for the Domestic Radicalization of Women
Award Information
Awardee
              The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
Award #
              2016-ZA-BX-K002
Funding Category
              Competitive
Location
                    Charlottesville, VA
Congressional District
              5
Status
              Closed
Funding First Awarded
              2016
Total funding (to date)
              $716,065
Original Solicitation
              Research and Evaluation on Domestic Radicalization to Violent Extremism: Prevention and Intervention Demonstration Programs
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2016, $716,065)
On December 2, 2015, Tashfeen Malik posted her online support of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi on Facebook as she entered the Inland Regional Center, and assisted her husband, Syed Farook, in killing 14 civilians and seriously wounding 22 more. Some months earlier, two SomaliAmerican sisters aged 15 and 17, and their 16-year-old friend of Sudanese descent, had been detained by German officials based upon a tip from the FBI as they were seeking to travel from their homes in Denver to Syria. These actions reflected their prior engagement online with Umm Waqqas, a nom de guerre, believed to belong to a woman and one of three accounts listed as a contact for those seeking to travel to Syria in ISILs 2015 guidebook, Hijrah to the Islamic State. Our project will support the development of a demonstration program, initiated by the University of Virginia (UVA) in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to identify, study, and respond to the social media campaigns being used by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to motivate women to perform hijra and travel to join the Caliphate or initiate violent acts of terror in their countries of origin. In achieving these goals, we will use linguistic and image-based search engines developed at UVA: (1) to identify recruitment strategies used by ISIL to prompt the radicalization of Western women, (2) to identify risk factors that are associated with the decision to travel to Syria or participate in civilian-based violence, (3) to generate positive counter-narratives designed to reduce or negate the appeal of these messages, and (4) to integrate this information into an educational website designed to enhance the media literacy of families, schools, communities, and local law enforcement across America. As Anita Peresin, Senior Advisor in the Office of the National Security Council of the Republic of Croatia, has observed, by using a professionally designed social media campaign, ISIL is more aggressively and more effectively recruiting women than any other terrorist group in the past. The significance of this media campaign is demonstrated by the 20,000 youth who have now traveled to Syria or Iraq, combined with the sobering observation by Edit Schlaffer, that ISIL does not voluntarily release its people, and any return journey is a matter of survival. ca/ncf



  
Grant-Funded Publications
        
                      Understanding Domestic Radicalization and Terrorism: A National Issue Within a Global Context
                  The Creation of Muhajirat in America: Social Media As a Platform for Crafting Gender-Specific Interventions for the Domestic Radicalization of Women
                  Exploring the experiential impact of online propaganda using eye-gaze and pupil dilation : A comparison across three ideological groups
                  Operationalizing theory: A moral-situational action model for extremist violence




  
Grant-Funded Datasets
        
                      https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38226.v1

  
Date Created: September 14, 2016
    
          Side navigation
  

        

  
  
              Current Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Forthcoming Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Expired Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
    
      
            
            
            
      Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
    
      
            
            
            
      Fellowship & Student Programs
    
      
            
            
            
      Travel Scholarships
    
      
            
            
            
      NIJ Challenge ProgramSimilar Awards
        
                      Examining the Impacts of Body-Worn Cameras on Correctional Culture, Climate, and the Well-Being of Staff and Incarcerated Persons
                  NIJ Innovations in Measuring Community Perceptions Challenge Winner: Micro-Community Policing Plans
                  An Evaluability Assessment of the Not In Our Town Hate and Bias Action Teams Model
 Top

      National Institute of Justice

        
        
                        About NIJ
                    About NIJ
      
    
                  How NIJ Is Organized
      
    
                  NIJ Director
      
    
                  Research Disclaimer
      
    
                  Funding & Awards
                    Funding & Awards Home
      
    
                  Awards Listing
      
    
                  Current Funding
      
    
                  Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
      
    
                  Resources
                    Events
      
    
                  Podcasts
      
    
                  Publications
      
    
                  Topics
      
    
                  Multimedia
      
    
                  Reuse Policy
      
    
                  Contacts
                    Contact NIJ
      
    
                  Staff Directory
      
    
                  Submit a FOIA Request
      
    
                  File a Civil Rights ComplaintFacebook
          
                      X
          
                      YouTube
  

      810 7th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20531
      
              Secondary Footer link menu
            Accessibility
              Plain Language
              Privacy Policy
              Legal Policies and Disclaimer
              No FEAR Act
              Freedom of Information Act
              USA.gov
              Justice.gov