Slavery in 21st-century jihadism
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In the 21st century, many Islamist groups, such as Boko Haram, or ISIS, have captured and enslaved women and children, often for sexual slavery.[1][2] In 2014 in particular, both groups organised mass kidnappings of large numbers of girls and younger women.[3][4] They say that they lead a war against "infidels".
The fighters get the enslaved girls and women as a compensation for their fighting to rebuild the Caliphate.
Enslavement
[change | change source]By Boko Haram
[change | change source]The first report of slave-taking by Boko Haram was on 13 May 2013. At that time, a video was released. In it, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said his group had taken women and children - including teenage girls - hostage in response to the arrest of its members' wives and children.[5]
According to Islamism expert Jonathan N.C. Hill, Boko Haram began kidnapping large numbers of girls and young women for sexual use in 2014.
The attacks were similar to Algerian Islamists in the 1990s and early 2000s. The group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has probably influenced Boko Haram with this.[6][7]
The BBC quoted a community leader from Borno state. He said that some of captured young women and teenage girls held by Boko Haram have been forced to marry one Boko Haram fighter after another as the fighters are killed. "Any time they go for an operation and one of the fighters is killed they will force the young woman to marry another one. Eventually she becomes a sex slave."[8]
By ISIS
[change | change source]| Islamic State price list for
women and children slaves | |
|---|---|
| 1–9 years old | $165 |
| 10–20 | $124 |
| 21–30 | $82 |
| 31–40 | $62 |
| 41–50 | $41 |
| SOURCE: Zainab Bangura,
UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict.[9] | |
The Economist reports that ISIS (also called "Islamic State") has taken "as many as 2,000 women and children" captive, selling and distributing them as sexual slaves. Some women were reportedly sold via auction and even via online auction to Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.[10][11] Matthew Barber, a scholar of Yazidi history at the University of Chicago, later stated to have compiled a list of 4,800 captured Yazidi women and children, and estimated that the overall number could be up to 7,000.[12] Yazidi are a small minority who practice a religion based on "a mix of Christian, Islamic, and ancient Mesopotamian beliefs".[9]
According to reports The Daily Telegraph said were credible, virgins among the captured women were selected and given to commanders as sexual slaves.[13] According to an August 2015 story in The New York Times, "The trade in Yazidi women and girls has created a persistent infrastructure, with a network of warehouses where the victims are held, viewing rooms where they are inspected and marketed, and a dedicated fleet of buses used to transport them."[14][15]
Research about a pamphlet
[change | change source]In April 2015, Zainab Bangura, the United Nations special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, visited Iraq. She received a copy of an Islamic State pamphlet including a list of prices for captured women and children. According to a story on the list in Bloomberg, the list's authenticity "was established by UN researchers who'd gathered anecdotes on similar slave markets in Islamic State-controlled areas". The captives are non-Muslim minorities, "mostly Arab Christians and Yazidis" who have refused to convert to Islam and whose adult male relatives have been murdered. Bidders for the captive women and children include "the groups own fighters and wealthy Middle Easterners".[9]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Spencer, Richard (14 October 2014). "Monday 20 October 2014 Thousands of Yazidis sold as sex slaves, say Isil". Irish Independent. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- ↑ McPhee, Rod. "The schoolgirls stolen as sex slaves by Nigeria's anti-education jihadists Boko Haram". No. 3 May 2014. Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 2014-09-05. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- ↑ Hill, Jonathan N.C. (July 30, 2014). "Boko Haram, the Chibok Abductions and Nigeria's Counterterrorism Strategy". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Archived from the original on 2014-09-04. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ↑ EconomistStaff (October 18, 2014). "Jihadists Boast of Selling Captive Women as Concubines". The Economist. Archived from the original on 2014-10-20. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- ↑ "Boko Haram timeline: From preachers to slave raiders". BBC News. 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2015-11-18. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ↑ Hill, Jonathan N.C. (July 30, 2014). "Boko Haram, the Chibok Abductions and Nigeria's Counterterrorism Strategy". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Archived from the original on 2014-09-04. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ↑ Marina Lazreg, "Consequences of Political Liberalisation and Sociocultural Mobilisation for Women in Algeria, Egypt and Jordan," in Anne-Marie Goetz, Governing Women: Women's Political Effectiveness in Contexts of Democratisation and Governance Reform (New York: Routledge/UNRISD, 2009), p. 47.
- ↑ Ross, Will (8 May 2015). "Nigeria: What next for the rescued Boko Haram captives?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2015-10-19. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Yoon, Sangwon (August 3, 2015). "Islamic State Circulates Sex Slave Price Lis". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 2015-08-07. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ↑ "Saudi Arabian Buyers Are Shopping For Sex Slaves - At ISIS Auctions!". indiatimes.com. 28 September 2016. Archived from the original on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
- ↑ "Modern slavery a national security issue says new study". Mirage News. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
- ↑ EconomistStaff (October 18, 2014). "Jihadists Boast of Selling Captive Women as Concubines". The Economist. Archived from the original on 2014-10-20. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- ↑ Sherlock, Ruth (18 October 2014). "Islamic State commanders 'using Yazidi virgins for sex'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2014-10-20. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- ↑ CALLIMACHI, RUKMINI (13 August 2015). "ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-08-16. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ↑ see also Semple, Kirk (November 14, 2014). "Yazidi Girls Seized by ISIS Speak Out After Escape". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2017-01-15. Retrieved 2017-03-03.