This paper examines the link between violent attacks of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, forced migration, and the empowerment of women in host communities. The paper finds positive effects of distant attacks on the economic well-being of women, their use of modern contraceptive methods, and rejection of traditional gender views. At the same time, however, the findings show an increase in the risk that women experience domestic violence. The paper then extensively examines forced displacement as an effect channel and its importance relative to other possible channels for explaining the spatial dispersion of the effects. Compared with Boko Haram attacks, the results are remarkably different for Fulani pastoralist-farmer clashes over natural resources.