August 2014: YAZIDI GENOCIDE

Yazidi history goes back for centuries. Their religion is a unique mixture of elements of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Additionally, their religion includes sun worshipping and belief in the peacock angel.
The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) view their religious practices as demonic and feel that their peacock angel represents Satan. Under Islamic Law by ISIS, Yazidis are given an ultimatum of either converting to Islam or dying.
ISIS has aimed at terrorizing the Yazidi population, which makes up an approximation of 230,000 people in the Iraqi area. ISIS views Yazidi people in their region as ‘kafir’ (nonbelievers in Arabic) because they do not practice Islam, which has led to the Yazidi genocide.
On August 3, 2014, ISIS kidnapped over 500 women and young girls and sent them to different areas such as: Tal Afar, Si Basha Khidri, and Ba’aj.
On August 4, 2014, ISIS struck Jabal Sinjar and kidnapped hundreds of women again.
On August 6, 2014, ISIS relentlessly struck again, kidnapping 400 Yazidi women in Sinjar to be put on the market and sold as sex slaves.
The Iraqi government made a statement reporting that on August 10, 2014, and on August 15, 2014, ISIS struck again, kidnapping over 1,000 women and children from Yazidi villages to be sold as sex slaves.

Death and Injury

Over 5,200 Yazidis were taken in 2014, most of which are women still held in ISIS captivity. Additionally, thousands have been murdered, and over 400,000 Yazidis have been pushed out of their homes.
Reports show that by the end of August 2014, a minimum of 2,500 Yazidis (mostly women and children) had been kidnapped by ISIS. The University of Chicago collected data and found that 4,800 Yazidi women and children had been kidnapped, and over 7,000 people including men had been taken.
ISIS has destroyed these women’s spirits by inflicting physical and sexual violence on them, including rape and sex slavery. Many of these women commit suicide by jumping off of Mount Sinjar.
If a woman ends up getting pregnant during her time as a sex slave, ISIS forces them to have abortions.

Psychological Impact

Due to the traumatic experience of living captive as an ISIS sex slave, survivors may have difficulty feeling happy and may blame themselves for being raped.
Within 3 months after being raped, victims may have difficulty feeling safe and trusting others. In addition, they may experience a loss of sense of control, lower self-esteem, and difficulties with intimacy.
Victims of genocidal rape may experience feelings of humiliation, may feel a loss of identity if they lost their virginity, may feel unsuitable for marriage, may contract HIV/AIDS, and may experience PTSD and depression.
In addition, victims of rape typically want to forget that the rape occurred, so they may change their phone number, move, or find a different job.