Washington, DC – Today, Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Caucus Representatives Lois Frankel (D-FL-22) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02) released the following statement commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Yazidi genocide in Sinjar, Iraq, in which Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorists massacred, raped, and abducted thousands of Yazidis.

“Sexual violence can never be accepted as a tool of war. ISIS’s systematic effort to destroy the Yazidis ten years ago through terror, kidnapping, and sexual violence had a devastating impact on women and girls of the region,” said Rep. Frankel. “We can learn from Yazidi women like Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad, a survivor of ISIS captivity, who continues to push governments and international actors to hold accountable all perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), including ISIS terrorists. We have a moral duty to remember the 2,600 Yazidis who remain in ISIS captivity still to this day, and to do everything in our power to reunite them with their families.”

“For too long, women and girls have suffered at the hands of criminals who use sexual violence as a weapon of war.” said Rep. Kiggans. “As we honor the memory of Yazidi victims and support survivors, we must continue to hold former ISIS militants accountable by prosecuting international law and preserving evidence collected from Sinjar. It is critical that we continue to do everything in our power to strengthen our national security so that we can help prevent these atrocities and protect future generations of women and girls.”

In August 2014, the Yazidi community in the Sinjar region of Iraq suffered a brutal genocide at the hands of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), forcing approximately 400,000 Yazidis to flee to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

Men who could not escape were executed unless they converted; women were taken into captivity and subjected to sexual slavery, forced marriages, and coerced conversions.

Organizations like Nadia’s Initiative have facilitated the return to Sinjar of more than 160,000 Yazidis and begun to sustainably redevelop the region.

However, ten years after the genocide, hundreds of thousands of Yazidis still reside in displaced persons camps across KRI, and nearly 3,000 women and girls remain in ISIS captivity.

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