Yazidi women recall their tragedies on International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence

Survivor Yazidi women continue to suffer both, facing the reality that they were raped and forcibly turned into slaves and handmaids, and the bitterness of inequity they still face after being freed.

International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence

June 19 is a global day to eliminate sexual violence in conflict situations. Undoubtedly, this day means a lot to Yazidi women who were subjected to the cruelest form of physical violence and rape when ISIS invaded the Yazidi homeland in Sinjar in 2014.

Survivors

In an interview with Shafaq News agency, Yazidi women freed from ISIS control recalled their slavery suffering when they were kidnapped.

Hanaa, a 25-year-old Yazidi survivor, spoke about her struggle, saying, "They treated us like slaves and maids. We were beaten and raped all the time. I was taking contraceptive pills to avoid giving birth to their children. I tried once to commit suicide, but I could not do it because my parents and relatives came to my mind, and I could not part with them just yet."

Hanaa now suffers from chronic diseases, as well as difficult humanitarian conditions. She is now alone because her family is still missing, and no one knows anything about their whereabouts.

Khokhi, another survivor, managed to escape from Al-Hol camp in 2020 after a relative of hers rescued her by paying a smuggler a fortune.

Khokhi was captured with her little sister. She recalled her trauma over being enslaved and raped, "One of ISIS's princes came and classified the girls according to their beauty," she added that she was held exclusively for ISIS princes and was raped several times, "I fought back once but to no avail. Every time I resisted, I was severely whipped."

2800 Yazidi women still enslaved by ISIS

Hussein Kuru, head of the Office of the Yazidi Abductees' affairs, stated to Shafaq News agency that 2,800 Yazidi women and children are still held by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. He also pointed to the liberation of 3,546 captives so far.

International directive to fair them

For her part, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, called on the Iraqi authorities to, "Empower the Yazidi survivors to obtain all relevant benefits contained in the Yazidi Survivors Act."

Gisladottir called on the Iraqi government to, "Intensify its efforts to ensure that the perpetrators of these terrible crimes are held accountable and that adequate resources, including financial and human resources, are provided to meet the needs of all victims of sexual violence in conflict situations."

"The legislation of the Yazidi Survivors Act last March is a major step towards meeting the needs of survivors of ISIS atrocities in Iraq," she added.

The Law provides for compensation, care, and rehabilitation of survivors in society. Full implementation of the Law is necessary.