Many of them lost track of their children in the hands of the slavery, abuse and rape that the terrorist organisation's fighters exercised over them. Today, it seems that they have regained their freedom and continue to search for ways to erase the grim past they experienced during the rule of Daesh. Others, however, were acquired by contacts who managed to take them out of the territory controlled by the organisation at the time, thus allowing them to be placed in refugee camps or, if they were more fortunate, to relocate with their families. 13 Sometimes they were bought by combatants who simply kept them in their homes as hostages and did not make sexual use of them, leaving them free to be raped or abused constantly. Some of them say that the women who had the opportunity to escape from these situations did so with luck or contacts. Some of the testimonies collected from the survivors revealed their uncertainty as to who they would be bought by in the future and their loss of hope for what they were going through. It is important to mention that the veil, within the Yazidi religion, is not part of the culture of the Yazidis. As women, and even more so as slaves and hostages, they were not allowed to go out on their own or to appear with other men without the veil, which was compulsorily imposed on them. Also, the social conditions under the Caliphate should not be forgotten. Trapped under the obligations that the fighters imposed on them, many were sold as slaves and sexual hostages, being repeatedly raped by different members of that organisation who had them cornered in their homes with their families. Women, boys and girls were the main victims of ISIS atrocities, as virtually all the men were killed. 10 In this way, as the organisation spread across these geographical areas, it produced a kind of domino effect, in which the religion and the community were wiped off the map step by step in each city that fell into their hands. When ISIS invaded their lands, ISIS militants threatened the Yazidis with death if they did not convert to their branch of Islam, and none of them did so out of loyalty to their religious principles. In Daesh ideology, the Yazidi community and therefore their religion are considered infidels because, as mentioned above, their monotheism, which points to the belief in and respect for the representation of the devil1 in Islam, allows them to enslave, rape and kill without denial any member of that religion. Moreover, the fact that conversion to this religion does not exist means that the only way to become part of it is by direct link, which makes it even more difficult to increase the number of members and increasingly distant for them. However, there is no doubt that the number of the Yazidi population has been steadily decreasing due to the atrocities of the terrorist organisation, an internationally recognised genocide. It is difficult to estimate an exact number of how many members of the community have survived and those who have lost their lives in these years of Daesh rule. In addition, it is estimated that around 200,000 people managed to escape through the mountains and took refuge in Kurdish villages in Syrian territory. 8 In the different cities where members of this community were found, they carried out a brutal genocide: Yazidi men were killed and sent to mass graves, while women and children were abducted. In early August, Daesh militants attacked and captured a number of symbolic cities such as Sinjar and Kocho, which at the time had a large Yazidi representation. Since 2014, when the Islamic State was self-proclaimed, the organisation began a military, political, religious and social deployment that expanded mainly in Iraq and Syria. 6 Also, throughout their formation and consolidation as a cultural and religious group, their members have adopted different traditions and practices from different religious and cultural branches such as Manichaeism, Christianity, Islam and Gnosticism, among others. ![]() Constant persecution against this group has been a characteristic feature marking them since time immemorial, but they have still resisted the abandonment of their faith, identity and character. Yazidism is considered to be one of the oldest religions in the world with nearly 7,000 years of existence and has been characterised by a rich history of ethno-cultural development and bravery in the face of all kinds of adverse scenarios. According to their ideological and religious pillars, the progression of the soul and the purification of the soul is not possible if an individual does not choose the right path. The greatest sin and the worst possible fate for a member of such a religion is to be expelled from his community or conversion to another religion.
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