The Forgotten Victims of ISIS

On March 1, 2021, Iraq passed the Yazidi Survivors Law, which provides reparations framework for survivors of ISIS crimes.  This law encompasses Yazidi, Christian, Turkmen, and Shabak minorities who were targeted by ISIS.  Those who are eligible also include women and girls who were subject to sexual violence as well as child survivors who were abducted.  The reparations offered include a monthly salary, a plot of land or housing unit, support to re-enter school, and access to health services.  However, there are a number of victims that this law does not encompass.  Among these victims are the needs of children who were born of women who were raped by ISIS.  Many of these women were forcibly separated from their children, and are desperate to have them back.  The other major victim group that has not been addressed are the Shia and Sunni Arab Muslim women who were also abducted & raped by ISIS.  

Many of these Muslim women were subject to beatings, torture, and repeated rape, some of whom were only young teenagers at the time of their abduction.   A 16-year-old victim described how she was raped and repeatedly ordered to marry an ISIS fighter.  When her mother tried to stop the ISIS rapists, they then raped her mother in front of her, then proceeded to rape her again in front of her mother.  These women suffered in ways that cannot even be described.  However, they are not eligible for any state-aid under the Yazidi Survivors Law.  

Making matters worse, many of these women have been abandoned by their families.  The reason being is that the Arab-Islamic culture is driven by the Honor/Shame mentality.  A family's respect and position within the Islamic community is dependent on the family's honor.  The honor is the sole responsibility of the women of the family, who is viewed as property of the man, whether it be her father, brother, or husband.  The women of the family must remain a virgin until the day of their marriage, if this is not the case, the entire family is dishonored.  Even if the Muslim woman is raped, it is considered that she has soiled the family's honor.  

As a result of this mentality, many of the families of the rape victims want nothing to do with them.  Their relatives now consider them "objects of shame" and view them as "property of ISIS."  Many of these women upon returning to their families are shunned, face beatings, or are exiled from the community.  It is estimated that there are over 10,000 such victims in Iraq, most of whom have nobody to turn to and nowhere to go.  Many of these victims believe that nobody cares about their plight, and feel as though the world has forsaken them and that nobody cares about their plight.  

Sources:

Ahlert, Arnold.  "Forcing Women to Marry Their Rapists."  Front Page Magazine.  March 2012.  Accessed from http://www.think-israel.org/ahlert.marrytheirrapists.html.

Darwish, Nonie.  Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror.  New York: Penguin Group, 2006.

Gabriel, Bridget.  Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America.  New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2006.

Gabriel, Bridget.  They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam & How We Can Do It.  New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2009.

Javaid, Osama bin.  "'No One Cares': ISIL's Invisible Victims."  AlJazeera.  March 08, 2022.  Accessed from 

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/3/8/no-one-cares-isils-invisible-victims.

Rostampour, Maryam & Marziyeh Amirizadeh.  Captive in Iran.  Atlanta: Tyndale Momentum, 2013.

Waldman, Nicolette.  "Iraq's Reparations Law for Yazidi Survivors is a Positive Step."  AlJazeera.  June 21, 2021.  Accessed from https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/6/28/iraqs-reparations-law-for-yezidi-survivors-is-a-positive-step.