SHAFAQNA – Iraqi Izadi girls and women who have been sexually enslaved by the ISIL Takfiri group commit suicide or attempt to do so, Amnesty International says. The Takfiri militants captured the Iraqi town of Sinjar in early August, when they killed hundreds of residents, kidnapped, and enslaved hundreds of Izadi women and girls, and forced tens of thousands to seek refuge on Mount Sinjar.
“Hundreds of Izadi women and girls have had their lives shattered by the horrors of sexual violence and sexual slavery in ISIL captivity,” Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Advisor, said after interviewing with over 40 Izadi girls, who had escaped the captivity, in northern Iraq.
“Many of those held as sexual slaves are children — girls aged 14, 15, or even younger,” Rovera added.
An Izadi man told the rights group’s official that his sister, named Jilan, committed suicide for the fear of being raped by the Takfiri militants.
“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,” said a girl, who was held with Jilan and managed to escape, adding, “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.”
A 27-year-old Izadi girl, named Wafa, who had been enslaved together with her sister, said that they attempted to kill themselves to avoid forced marriage but were stopped by two other captives.
“We tied… 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,” Wafa told the rights group.
Randa, a 16-year-old Izadi girl, said that the ISIL group enslaved her and her family, adding that she was raped by a militant twice as old as she is.
“It is so painful what they did to me and to my family,” Randa said.
Many of the ISIL Takfiris who buy the Izadi girls are reportedly Syrian or Iraqi men. They are either ISIL Takfiri militants or their supporters.
The Izadi girls, who manage to escape captivity, suffer the trauma of being raped and feel that their “honor” and that of their families has been tarnished.
“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,” Rovera said.
Rovera further said that the survivors of the Takfiri group’s sexual slavery system are not receiving the support and aid they need, calling on Iraqi and UN officials to step up efforts to help the girls.
“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 Rovera.
Izadi activists say 3,500 women and children are missing, along with 2,000 Izadi men, many of whom are feared to have been executed.
On Saturday, Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters distributed aid on Mount Sinjar after breaking the ISIL terror group’s months-long siege on the area in northwestern Iraq.
The ISIL terrorists, who control some parts of Syria and Iraq, are engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control. ISIL militants have terrorized and killed people of all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.
Source : Shia post