While it has been reported that IS has been enslaving religious and ethnic minorities over a long period, written evidence of IS' endorsement of sex crimes has come to light. The militant Islamic State regime, formerly known as ISIS, published a horrifying pamphlet titled "Questions and Answers on Taking Captives and Slaves" over a week ago, translated by the Middle East Research Institute, about how to capture and enslave women of other beliefs.
The rules state that it's entirely justifiable, and morally right, to rape a slave (referred to as "al-Sabi") taken from a group with whom IS is at war.
It instructs people to rape an enslaved woman "immediately after taking possession of her" and that it is "permissible to have intercourse with the female slave who hasn't reached puberty if she is fit for intercourse", thus endorsing child abuse and paedophilia as well as rape and sexual abuse.
The pamphlet also justifies physical abuse, saying that "it is permissible to beat the female slave as a form of darb ta-deeb [disciplinary beating]".
Women who are fighting for IS as jihadist warriors are reportedly participating in this state-endorsed slavery, and brothels filled with Yazidi women are operated by this female "police force", known as the al-Khanssaa Brigade. The Yazidi women and girls are bought and sold cheaply and held against their will.
TheYazidi, a people from Northern Iraq, are viewed by IS as being "devil-worshipers", and have been one of the most affected groups of the IS regime.
A 17-year old Yazidi girl from Mosul who was captured by IS, who wished to remain unnamed, said:
"They consider themselves as supermen. But they are people without a heart.
Our torturers do not even spare the women who have small children with them...nor do they spare the girls - some of our group are not even 13 years old. Some of them will no longer say a word."
She also said, "They keep telling us that we are unbelievers because we are non-Muslims and that we are their property, like war booty. They say we are like goats bought at a market."
