Yamin Mohammad Munshi
In August 2014, the world stood witness to a horrifying tragedy in northern Iraq’s Sinjar region. As ISIS militants swept across Yazidi lands, their campaign went far beyond conquest—it was a calculated and brutal genocide. Among the most vulnerable victims were Yazidi girls, many just children, who were abducted, trafficked, and subjected to unspeakable atrocities. Their stories, once buried in silence, expose the darkest corners of human cruelty—and demand urgent justice and accountability.
The Yazidis are an ancient ethno-religious community with spiritual traditions that blend Zoroastrianism, ancient Mesopotamian beliefs, and Sufi mysticism. Misunderstood and falsely accused of “devil worship,” they have faced centuries of persecution.
In 2014, ISIS marked the Yazidis as infidels, launching a genocidal campaign aimed at their total extermination. More than 6,000 Yazidi women and girls were abducted during the Sinjar offensive, according to United Nations reports. Many were sold in open slave markets, forced into marriages, raped, beaten, and coerced into abandoning their faith. The systematic sexual violence was designed not only to inflict harm but to obliterate Yazidi identity.
To truly grasp the horror, one must listen to the survivors.
Shirin, now 17, was only 13 when militants raided her village. “They came at night and took me away from my sisters. They sold me many times. Each time, it was a new nightmare,” she recounts. Forced to convert and punished for resistance, she eventually escaped during a battle between ISIS and Kurdish forces. She now lives in a displacement camp, her eyes haunted but her spirit unbroken.
Nazila was just 12 when ISIS captured her. She was forced to marry a fighter decades older. “I cried silently when he was asleep,” she says. Her family remains missing. “Sometimes, I feel like I lost my childhood forever.”
Their testimonies echo those of thousands. A 2016 United Nations report confirmed the atrocities committed by ISIS against Yazidi women and girls constituted genocide.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, herself a Yazidi survivor, has become a powerful advocate. “We must not allow this genocide to be forgotten,” she urges. “Every Yazidi girl who survived carries a wound the world must help heal.”
Experts agree the abuse was not incidental but strategic. “This is a stark example of gender-based violence as a tool of ethnic cleansing,” explains Dr. Farah Diba, a genocide studies scholar. “The targeting of women and girls was central to ISIS’s plan.”
Despite the early warning signs, global political response was slow. Although humanitarian aid groups mobilized quickly, meaningful political action took time. Eventually, the UN formally classified the atrocities as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Organizations like Yazda, Amnesty International, and Minority Rights Group have worked tirelessly to support survivors, but vast gaps remain. Mental health support is scarce. Many survivors face social stigma and isolation. Even in displacement, the trauma lingers.
“The wounds are deep—physically, emotionally, culturally,” says Dr. Laila Al-Sabah, a trauma counselor working in northern Iraq. “Healing will require long-term community support, counseling, and justice.”
Compounding the trauma is the ongoing displacement. Thousands of Yazidis still live in camps, unable to return home due to damaged infrastructure and continued insecurity in Sinjar.
Legal accountability remains incomplete. While some ISIS leaders have been prosecuted, many perpetrators roam free. Trials, whether in Iraqi courts or at the International Criminal Court, have been fragmented and slow.
“Justice is critical—not just for punishment, but for prevention,” warns Dr. Mark Weston, an expert in international law. “Without accountability, history risks repeating itself.”
Yazidi leaders have called for a dedicated tribunal for ISIS crimes. Yet political will remains fragmented, and survivors wait.
The Yazidi people are not just seeking justice—they seek renewal. Their temples, homes, and heritage sites were deliberately destroyed by ISIS to erase their cultural identity.
“We want to rebuild our homes, our schools, our temples,” Shirin says. “We want to live with dignity, free from fear.”
Her words resonate as both a plea and a declaration—a message from a generation robbed of childhood but determined to reclaim the future.
The suffering of Yazidi girls under ISIS is a haunting reminder of the depths of human cruelty—and the failure of the world to act in time. These stories are not relics of the past; they are ongoing realities that demand acknowledgment, justice, and healing.
To honor the survivors is to ensure their voices are heard. It is a global responsibility to protect vulnerable communities, confront ideologies of hate, and ensure that such horrors are never repeated.
As Shirin, Nazila, and countless others continue their long road to healing, the world must not turn away. Their courage compels us to remember, to act, and to stand with them.
Yamin Mohammad Munshi holds an M.A. in History and writes on genocide, conflict, and human rights.
Email: munshiyamin5@gmail.com