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Amnesty International - http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iraq-yezidi-women-and-girls-face-harrowing-sexual-violence-2014-12-23
IRAQ – YEZIDI WOMEN & GIRLS – ESCAPE FROM HELL:
TORTURE, SEXUAL SLAVERY IN ISLAMIC STATE CAPTIVITY IN IRAQ - REPORT
Direct Link to Full 19-Page 2014 Report:
Iraq: Yezidi women and girls face harrowing
sexual violence.
A girl in Khakhe camp who was a victim of
abuse by the armed group calling itself Islamic State.
“Hundreds of Yezidi women and girls have
had their lives shattered by the horrors of sexual violence and sexual slavery
in IS captivity.” Source: Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s
Senior Crisis Response Advisor, who spoke to more than 40 former captives in
northern Iraq
23/12/2014 - Torture, including rape and
other forms of sexual violence, suffered by women and girls from Iraq’s
Yezidi minority who were abducted by the armed group calling itself the Islamic
State (IS), highlights the savagery of IS rule, said Amnesty International in a
new briefing today.
Escape from Hell
- Torture, Sexual Savery in Islamic State Captivity in Iraq, provides
an insight into the horrifying abuse suffered by hundreds and possibly
thousands of Yezidi women and girls who have been forcibly married, “sold” or
given as “gifts” to IS fighters or their supporters. Often, captives were
forced to convert to Islam.
“Hundreds of Yezidi women and girls have
had their lives shattered by the horrors of sexual violence and sexual slavery
in IS captivity,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis
Response Advisor, who spoke to more than 40 former captives in northern
Iraq.
“Many of those held as sexual slaves are
children – girls aged 14, 15 or even younger. IS fighters are using rape as a
weapon in attacks amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
The women and girls are among thousands of
Yezidis from the Sinjar region in north-west Iraq who have been targeted since
August in a wave of ethnic cleansing by IS fighters bent on wiping out ethnic
and religious minorities in the area.
The horrors endured in IS captivity
have left these women and girls so severely traumatized that some have
been driven to end their own lives. Nineteen-year-old Jilan committed suicide
while being held captive in Mosul because she feared she would be raped, her
brother told Amnesty International.
One of the girls who was held in the same
room as Jilan and 20 others, including two girls aged 10 and 12, told Amnesty
International: “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. 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.” The girl was among those who later escaped.
Wafa, 27, another former captive, told
Amnesty International how she and her sister attempted to end their lives one
night after their captor threatened them with forced marriage. They tried to
strangle themselves with scarves but two girls sleeping in the same room awoke
and stopped them.
“We tied the scarves around our necks and
pulled away from each other as hard as we could, until I fainted… I could not
speak for several days after that,” she said.
The majority of the perpetrators are Iraqi
and Syrian men; many of them are IS fighters but others are believed to be
supporters of the group. Several former captives said they had been held in
family homes where they lived with their captors’ wives and children.
Many Yezidi survivors are doubly affected
as they are also struggling to cope with the loss of dozens of their relatives
who either remain in captivity or have been killed by the IS.
Randa, a 16-year-old girl from a village
near Mount Sinjar was abducted with scores of her family members, including her
heavily-pregnant mother. Randa was “sold” or given as a “gift” to a man twice
her age who raped her. She described the impact of her ordeal to Amnesty
International:
“It is so painful what they did to me and
to my family. Da’esh (the IS) has ruined our lives… What will happen to my
family? I don’t know if I will ever see them again."
“The physical and psychological toll of the
horrifying sexual violence these women have endured is catastrophic. Many of
them have been tortured and treated as chattel. Even those who have managed to
escape remain deeply traumatized,” said Donatella Rovera.
The trauma of survivors of sexual violence
is further exacerbated by the stigma surrounding rape. Survivors feel that
their “honour”, and that of their families, has been tarnished and fear that
their standing in society will be diminished as a result.
Many survivors of sexual violence are still
not receiving the full help and support they desperately need.
“The Kurdistan Regional Government, UN and
other humanitarian organizations who are providing medical and other support
services to survivors of sexual violence must step up their efforts. They must
ensure they are swiftly and proactively reaching out to all those who may need
them, and that women and girls are made aware of the support available to
them,” said Donatella Rovera.