The Islamic State is the most successful slaving organisation of this century, following its successful entrapment of thousands of young girls and women in sexual slavery in the last five months alone, with girls as young as twelve being subjected to rape attacks and sale into the sex trade.
The trade of sexual slaves within the Islamic State is increasingly sophisticated, with girls snatched from their families by gangs before being sent to ‘sorting centres’ to be graded, in a similar fashion to farm animals, before being sold or given to soldiers as prizes. The price of the girls is apparently determined at these centres according to their age and level of education, and they are sold at especially established slave markets regulated by the Islamic State.
The girls are even sold with conditions of use, including instructions on the circumstances under which it is permissible to sleep with girls who haven’t hit puberty, and how to punish purchased concubines. The document read “It is permissible to have intercourse with the female slave who hasn’t reached puberty if she is fit for intercourse”.
When given as prizes, the girls, who are often taken from Iraq’s beleaguered Yazidi community, are not limited to local fighters. The Times reports the case of one group of girls who escaped captivity and spoke of being used by two Australian brothers who had gone to the Islamic State to fight. They reported that the brothers were ethnic Europeans, white skinned and blonde haired Australians who had converted to Islam and were now taking part in the same carnal pleasure as their fellow fighters.
One girl who was captured from Yazidi area Sinjar told the paper: “My mother started screaming and begging for mercy as the [ISIS] fighters told my sister and me to join the group of younger women specially selected.
“But they tore us from her grasp. I saw other women in the building being dragged out to waiting lorries by their hair”. Of the rapidity with which local men joined ISIS, as the area fell into Islamic State control, she said: “They were local Sunni fighters, some of whom we recognised… A local mechanic was among them. The Sunni men in our area became [ISIS] as soon as they got a smell of them approaching. No one even had to ask them to join”.
Speaking of her experience after being captured by local Sunny fighters now loyal to ISIS, the girl said: “The Daesh took our names and ages and noted everything down… Then they began dividing us: the men to one side, woman and children to another. Then they selected the young women, both married and unmarried. They told me and my two younger sisters to join that last group. We didn’t know what was happening, but our mother realised, and she began screaming.
“It was organised, and they took us away like cattle… as sheep”. At the sex-slave market “We were lined up while they came to inspect and buy us. I could see the dinars change hands”.
She told reporters her buying was known locally, a man who had been a criminal before the war but had become an ISIS commander. He bought the witness and two fourteen year old girls for his pleasure, and to perform domestic chores. They were also expected to serve his fellow ISIS soldiers.
Although the Islamic State goes to considerable lengths to prevent its valuable slaves from escaping, this girl is not the only to have told her tale to the outside world. Breitbart reported the comments of one sex slave in October, who had been unsuccessful in escape but had managed to telephone out. She said: “If you know where we are please bomb us… There is no life after this. I’m going to kill myself anyway – others have killed themselves this morning. I’ve been raped 30 times and it’s not even lunchtime. I can’t go to the toilet. Please bomb us”.