The violence against Yezidi women: The Islamic State’s sexual slavery system

Abstract

Since August 2014, thousands of Yezidi women and girls have been taken away from their communities and have received brutal treatment from the so-called organization Islamic State, including rape and the selling of them as goods. This kind of violence has been occurring for almost two years, but only recently the world became aware of it as some of the girls managed to flee from the captivity and testified the brutal treatment they received under the hands of the extremist group. This article intends to throw some light in the sexual slavery system established by the Islamic State focused on Yezidi women and makes an effort to understand why governments and security organizations have failed to extinguish this kind of gender violence that has made millions of victims along these years.