Women Exploitation under ISIS: Ideology, Sexual Enslavement and Consequences

Abstract

ISIS is an infamous acronym for Islamic States of Iraq and Syria, having strong hold on these two regions. It had established itself as a self-declared Caliphate. It possesses one of the largest terrorist threats to the international society and to global peace and security. There leaders have introduced a specific interpretation of sharia law, which is intensely harsh and brutal, one-sided with a very little regard to the human life. Among the whole human community, one of the worst sufferers are the women living in the ISIS controlled regions. Women faced brutal suppression and maltreatment under the ISIS rule. They forbid women education and impose stringent dress codes. Strict laws are made for marriage which gives a year-to-year guide that at which age a girl should be married and how later a woman should live her life. Women are brutally punished if they do not follow rules made by the ISIS like public execution. Irrespective of any sect all women face the brunt of strict oppressive behavior undermining their basic human rights. ISIS heavily sexualizes women as an object, “sex slaves”. This paper will focus on ideological standpoint behind different forms of violence against women in ISIS controlled territories, consequences of both direct and indirect violence on women and a case study on the sexual enslavement of the Yazidi women.