Kimberly Gwen Polman
Kimberly Gwen Polman (born 1972) is a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen, who travelled to Daesh occupied territory in 2015, and married an Islamic militant she had befriended online. In 2019, after she surrendered to forces allied to the United States, Polman told reporters she deeply regretted her actions. Early life Born September 29, 1972. Polman's mother is American, and her father Canadian. She was raised as a Reformed Mennonite, but later converted to Islam. In 2011, the Soroptimist International issued her a Women's Opportunity Award. Her citation said she was working on a diploma in Legal Administration, and planned to work as a children's advocate. Time in Syria Polman had taken an interest in nursing, and her online penpal, who said his name was Abu Aymen, told her that her nursing skills were needed in the caliphate. The two later married. In early 2015, Polman travelled from Vancouver to Istanbul on her US passport. She told her family that she was going to Austria for two weeks. Polman says she had grown disenchanted with Daesh by 2016, and tried to escape. She says she was captured, and imprisoned, in Raqqa, where she endured brutal interrogation and rape. Polman was held in