Enslaved and Held Captive by ISIS
Mothers. Young women. And girls have become slaves as a result of ISIS and their extreme interpretation of Islam. This is not just a label, it’s real bondage – human beings as objects to be bought and sold like property. They are forced to work, regularly beaten, and sexually abused at will – sometimes by many different men, entirely defenseless, hurt and broken.
Who are the Yazidi People?
These women are part of a small religious minority group, the Yazidi people, who have been violently targeted by ISIS. Under the ISIS interpretation of Islam, they believe women can be enslaved and the Yazidi people must be cleansed in order to create a pure Islamic state. As of March 2017, over 5,000 men have been killed and over 7,000 women and children have been taken captive. One woman who managed to escape shared what it was like.
“ISIS soldiers came into my village and forced us all into a school building we have there. The selection of people went quickly. It felt like we were not humans. The old men were taken out and killed; younger men taken away and forced to become ISIS soldiers. Us women, we were taken in cars to either Raqqa or Mosul and sold there in a market into sex slavery.”
The Life They Lost.
Though some are fortunate to escape through military raids, government ransom, or sometimes through rescue, they are often rejected by the community and even their families. Many face psychological and emotional effects. They experience violent outbursts and emotional trauma and some even need 24-hour watch to prevent them from harming themselves.
Restoring Hope: The Safe House.
World Compassion is helping to open and operate a safe house for these women in order to bring them to a place of restoration and independance. Women will help cook and care for the property while receiving sewing, agricultural and other skills training to make an income for themselves and integrate them back into society.
The home will have 7 rooms and can facilitate up to 28 women six months at a time. Women will share a room as they walk through the restoration process together. Through the doctor our team supports and the women living and overseeing the house, they will receive counseling to restore their dignity, rediscover their identity and provide a sense of hope for their futures.
The construction of the home is underway but we still need funding to finish the building as soon as possible! Our cost for this program is $109,000 for the remainder of this year. We need $63,750 of this by June 1, 2017, to cover the completion of the home and director’s salary, and an additional $15,000 by August 1, 2017 to cover staff salaries and the first 3 months of scholarship costs for 7 Yazidi women. I’m asking you to please give your best gift today – to give sacrificially.
Reaching out to help these women is an incredible opportunity to express God’s love, and you can be a part of it! Through your support and the team on the ground, these ladies will experience the love of a Father who, no matter what, stands beside them.
Together, we can show them unconditional and transformative love, and restore the life that was lost!
