'Brainwashing' Women Core Part of ISIS Strategy

ISIS is using women to help recruit terrorists, according to testimony given before a Congressional committee Wednesday.

"This is not a sideshow. This is very much a core part of ISIS' strategy, and it is a part of the evolving terrorist landscape," Sasha Havlicek, CEO at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, testified during the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

"As such, they should matter to us more than they have among intelligence circles," she said.

According to The Washington Times, Havlicek estimates that thousands of women have fled to the Middle East to join ISIS, despite its harsh treatment of women.

She said ISIS uses them for recruting and to raise the next generation of jihadi warriors.

Rep. Edward R. Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the committee, said the women are "brainwashed" and lure others to join.

"ISIS needs women, needs to control them, to establish its caliphate, and give rise to the next generation of ISIS. That is why ISIS is investing heavily in recruiting foreign women to join its ranks," Royce said.