TITLE:
Survival after Sexual Violence and Genocide: Trauma and Healing for Yazidi Women in Northern Iraq
AUTHORS:
Annekathryn Goodman, Hannah Bergbower, Violette Perrotte, Arun Chaudhary
KEYWORDS:
Rape, Rape as a Weapon of War, Sexual Violence, Sexual Slavery, Kidnapping, ISIS, ISIL, DAESH, Yazidi, Genocide
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.12 No.6,
June
18,
2020
ABSTRACT: Introduction: In
August 2014, the Yazidi community of Sinjar, in the Nineveh Governorate of
Northern Iraq, was brutally targeted by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS) for annihilation through murder, torture, and the systematic and
premeditated use of rape and sexual slavery of Yazidi women. In 2016, the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that ISIS was
committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against Yazidis.
Methods: Using current international literature, which includes reviews,
qualitative interviews of survivors, and reports from medical and humanitarian
actors, this paper explores the short and potentially long-term physical and
mental health consequences of the extreme physical and sexual violence and
atrocities perpetrated against Yazidi women. Results: Yazidi
women survivors of kidnapping, sex slavery, and rape experienced significant
levels of physical ailments, chronic pain, and mental health conditions. All
women reported feelings of guilt, stress, insomnia, and severe flashbacks. The
incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ranged from 42% to 90%.
Sixty-seven percent suffered from a somatoform disorder, 53% had depression,
39% experienced anxiety, and 28% suffered from dissociation. Conclusions: Sexual
violence against women is a common tool systematically employed during wars and
genocide. In recent ISIS attacks, intentional perpetration of mass rapes of
women and execution of men was a strategy to destroy an entire population. PTSD
and depression are common after traumatic stress. For disaster responders and
humanitarian workers, training and education to understand, try to prevent, and
plan for interventions when gender-based violence and sexual exploitation
occurs must become a mandatory part of emergency preparedness.