The majority of people have heard of the extremist group, ISIS, and its radical ideals, but few have heard of ISIS’ mistreatment of men and women. While ISIS’ beheadings and surprise attacks inundate world news stations, women are pried away from their families and homes and, eventually, used as sex slaves. Most of the victims are Yazidi, or a monotheistic, Kurdish group of people residing predominantly in Iraq. ISIS militants have brutally tortured and raped women and girls of the Yazidi faith since the group’s inception. The extremists believe it is permissible to torture and rape the Yazidis because they are the minority in Iraq. Furthermore, the Islamist militants deem the Yazidis’ religious tenets to be impure, and they believe God is permitting them to carry out these horrible acts.
Thousands of women have heart wrenching stories regarding their captivity, but Hanan’s, a 19 year-old Yazidi, story stands out. The extremists consider women who are pregnant or breastfeeding to be impure, but Hanan meets neither of those requirements, so ISIS militants haul her away from her home and family. The Islamic militants take her, along with 50 other girls, to a three story slave warehouse where she remains for several weeks. According to Hanan’s interview with CNN, ISIS militants, “Would line about 50 of us up at a time, in rows of 10. They would say don't move, don't cry or we will beat you. The men would come in and describe the kind of girl they wanted and then they would pick and choose as they pleased.” ISIS extremists treat these women like cattle, and even have slave contracts for them. Hanan’s harrowing account strikingly resembles thousands of other accounts and demonstrates ISIS’ drive to destroy the lives of those who express different beliefs.
Although ISIS targets mainly women, Yazidi men also endure torment at the hands of ISIS militants. After ISIS militants raid Yazidi homes, they transport men and women to separate camps and murder the men using automatic fire. They are not even given the choice to convert to Islam or plead their case—the extremists instinctively turn to violence.
These tragic cases in Iraq connect with many ideas the class has discussed, including how an individual’s identity can lead to misinterpretation and, also, women’s rights in society today. In Middlesex, Cal’s complex identity causes others, including Dr. Luce and his parents, to think of him differently. Similarly, but on a much greater scale, ISIS misinterprets people of the Yazidi faith and deems them impure merely because their religious precepts differ. Furthermore, this story reveals how prevalent exploitation of women is currently. Women endure similar means of torture in other parts of the world, like Alex and Karen discussed in their presentations. Although all of these stories are associated with exploitation of women, this story also mentions ISIS killing Yazidi men. Since ISIS spares the women’s lives, they believe the Yazidi women have a purpose, as minute and unpalatable as it may be, in their community, and Yazidi men do not.
Discussion Questions:
- As mentioned above, ISIS militants torture and kill Yazidi men, but utilize women as sex slaves. What do you think the variance of treatment between genders says about ISIS’ motives?
- Brutal, discriminatory attacks on specific populations of people have occurred for thousands of years. What do you think we are doing wrong as a whole, and what sort of methods do you think we need to employ to end these mass attacks?
- The ISIS militants who torture and exploit the Yazidi people are all men. How do you think the attacks and slave system would differ if women took part in the attacks?
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