Women and girls from Iraq's Yazidi religious
minority have told rights activists they were beaten and
forced into sexual slavery by the Islamic State jihadist
group, driving some to suicide.
ISIS militants have overrun swathes of Iraq since June,
declared a cross-border caliphate also encompassing parts
of neighbouring Syria and carried out a litany of abuses in
both countries.
The group has targeted Yazidis and other minorities in
northern Iraq in a campaign that rights group Amnesty
International said in a report on Tuesday amounted to
ethnic cleansing, murdering civilians and enslaving others
for a fate that some captives consider worse than death.
It said hundreds and possibly thousands of Yazidi women
and girls had been forced to marry, sold or given to ISIS
fighters or supporters.
"Many of those held as sexual slaves are children - girls
aged 14, 15 or even younger," said Donatella Rovera,
Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser, who interviewed
dozens of former captives.
A 19-year-old named Jilan committed suicide out of fear
she would be raped, according to the Amnesty report
entitled "Escape from Hell: Torture and Sexual Slavery in
Islamic State Captivity in Iraq".
"One day we were given clothes that looked like dance
costumes and were told to bathe and wear those clothes.
Jilan killed herself in the bathroom," said a girl who was
held with her but later escaped.
"She cut her wrists and hanged herself. She was very
beautiful; I think she knew she was going to be taken
away by a man and that is why she killed herself."
Another former captive told the rights group that she and
her sister tried to kill themselves to escape forced marriage,
but were stopped from doing so.
"The man who was holding us said that either we marry
him and his brother or he would sell us," said Wafa, 27.
"At night we tried to strangle ourselves with our scarves.
We tied the scarves around our necks and pulled away
from each other as hard as we could, until I fainted," she
said, but two other captives stopped them.
Sixteen-year-old Randa was abducted with her family,
then beaten and raped by a man twice her age. Her male
relatives were killed.
The man "took me as his wife by force. I told him I did
not want to and tried to resist but he beat me. My nose
was bleeding, I could not do anything to stop him," Randa
said.
"It is so painful what they did to me and to my family,"
she said.
ISIS boasts of abuse
Amnesty said that many of the perpetrators were ISIS
fighters, but might also include supporters of the group.
Some of the escaped victims said they were kept in family
homes with wives, children, parents and siblings of the
rapists.
ISIS has boasted in its propaganda magazine "Dabiq" of
the horrors it has inflicted.
In an article entitled "The revival of slavery before the
hour", Dabiq argues that by enslaving people it claims
hold deviant religious beliefs, ISIS has restored an aspect of
Islamic sharia law.
"After capture, the Yazidi women and children were then
divided according to the sharia amongst the fighters of the
Islamic State who participated in the Sinjar operations,"
the article said, referring to the area where the Yazidis
were seized.
The abductions and rapes have drawn widespread
international condemnation.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has denounced the
enslavement of women and girls by ISIS as "abhorrent".
The abuse causes long-term damage even to those who
manage to escape.
"The physical and psychological toll of the horrifying sexual
violence these women have endured is catastrophic,"
Rovera said.
"Many of them have been tortured and treated as chattel.
Even those who have managed to escape remain deeply
traumatised."
One man said that he fears his wife, who escaped
captivity, may commit suicide, and makes sure someone is
with her at all times.
"My wife has panic attacks and can't sleep. I can't leave
her alone because I'm afraid for her safety," he said.
Women and girls from Iraq's Yazidi religious
minority have told rights activists they were beaten and
forced into sexual slavery by the Islamic State jihadist
group, driving some to suicide.
ISIS militants have overrun swathes of Iraq since June,
declared a cross-border caliphate also encompassing parts
of neighbouring Syria and carried out a litany of abuses in
both countries.
The group has targeted Yazidis and other minorities in
northern Iraq in a campaign that rights group Amnesty
International said in a report on Tuesday amounted to
ethnic cleansing, murdering civilians and enslaving others
for a fate that some captives consider worse than death.
It said hundreds and possibly thousands of Yazidi women
and girls had been forced to marry, sold or given to ISIS
fighters or supporters.
"Many of those held as sexual slaves are children - girls
aged 14, 15 or even younger," said Donatella Rovera,
Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser, who interviewed
dozens of former captives.
Also Read: Algerian army kills militant
behind tourist's murder
A 19-year-old named Jilan committed suicide out of fear
she would be raped, according to the Amnesty report
entitled "Escape from Hell: Torture and Sexual Slavery in
Islamic State Captivity in Iraq".
"One day we were given clothes that looked like dance
costumes and were told to bathe and wear those clothes.
Jilan killed herself in the bathroom," said a girl who was
held with her but later escaped.
"She cut her wrists and hanged herself. She was very
beautiful; I think she knew she was going to be taken
away by a man and that is why she killed herself."
Another former captive told the rights group that she and
her sister tried to kill themselves to escape forced marriage,
but were stopped from doing so.
"The man who was holding us said that either we marry
him and his brother or he would sell us," said Wafa, 27.
"At night we tried to strangle ourselves with our scarves.
We tied the scarves around our necks and pulled away
from each other as hard as we could, until I fainted," she
said, but two other captives stopped them.
Sixteen-year-old Randa was abducted with her family,
then beaten and raped by a man twice her age. Her male
relatives were killed.
The man "took me as his wife by force. I told him I did
not want to and tried to resist but he beat me. My nose
was bleeding, I could not do anything to stop him," Randa
said.
"It is so painful what they did to me and to my family,"
she said.
ISIS boasts of abuse
Amnesty said that many of the perpetrators were ISIS
fighters, but might also include supporters of the group.
Some of the escaped victims said they were kept in family
homes with wives, children, parents and siblings of the
rapists.
ISIS has boasted in its propaganda magazine "Dabiq" of
the horrors it has inflicted.
In an article entitled "The revival of slavery before the
hour", Dabiq argues that by enslaving people it claims
hold deviant religious beliefs, ISIS has restored an aspect of
Islamic sharia law.
Also Read: Girls abducted by ISIS endured
horror - Amnesty
"After capture, the Yazidi women and children were then
divided according to the sharia amongst the fighters of the
Islamic State who participated in the Sinjar operations,"
the article said, referring to the area where the Yazidis
were seized.
The abductions and rapes have drawn widespread
international condemnation.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has denounced the
enslavement of women and girls by ISIS as "abhorrent".
The abuse causes long-term damage even to those who
manage to escape.
"The physical and psychological toll of the horrifying sexual
violence these women have endured is catastrophic,"
Rovera said.
"Many of them have been tortured and treated as chattel.
Even those who have managed to escape remain deeply
traumatised."
One man said that he fears his wife, who escaped
captivity, may commit suicide, and makes sure someone is
with her at all times.
"My wife has panic attacks and can't sleep. I can't leave
her alone because I'm afraid for her safety," he said.
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