This report outlines how the Nigerian government’s response to returning women has developed. It argues that the successful reintegration of former Boko Haram women can send a powerful signal to their fighter husbands, encouraging them to surrender. Conversely, their mistreatment could dissuade men from demobilizing but may also prompt women to return to their insurgents’ ranks. This is instrumentalizing women’s deradicalization and disengagement. These women still remain ostracized and in a precarious position which is exacerbated for those women who are unmarried or have absent husbands. A comparison between two programme’s results in the conclusion that programs for returning women are most effective when they involve help to both returnees and ordinary citizens, by offering parallel tracks of support and counseling that prepare both sides for living together again.. The report ends by making a number of recommendations regarding how to end abuse experienced in the screening process, and to protect women from sexual and other absue more generally in the reintegration process; give them and communities greater say in their resettlement; avoid aid that targets only Boko Haram-linked women and provokes social discord; increase funding for the north east’s development, particularly investing in education.
2019