Sahika Yüksel, Suzan Saner, Ayse Devrim Basterzi, Zerrin Oglagu, Israfil Bülb

Sexual assault against women and girls is frequently used as a strategic weapon during war. The conflicts in Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Peru, Somalia and Cambodia demonstrate that sexual violence and rape of women often occurs when war is ongoing; enslavement, sexual violence, trafficking, forced marriage and pregnancy, and forced conversion and assimilation are some of the genocidal sexual assaults and human rights abuses committed (UNHCR, 2003). Genocidal sexual assaults seek to destroy the target group’s biological and cultural identity, and the social fabric of a community: the way the community relates to itself and its members can be profoundly damaged as a result (Gottschall, 2004). Warring factions aim to humiliate their adversaries by assaulting women affiliated with the opposition. More indirectly, women’s risk of sexual assault increases during war due to the changing living conditions, migration routes and insecure sheltering conditions. In Syria, as with other countries in the region, women may be killed due to ‘honor’ killings after they’ve been raped; however, husbands rarely define rape as a crime, which contributes to under-reporting. However, as documented in virtually every governorate countrywide, it is known that sexual and gender-based violence including rape, sexual assault, sexual torture and sexual humiliation has increased in tandem with the growing numbers of warring parties in the ongoing conflict (Human Rights Council, 2018). Indeed, rape has been identified as one of the main reasons for leaving the country (Human Rights and Gender Justice (HRGJ, 2016; MAZLUMDER, 2014). Sexual violence often leads to post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, and other adverse conditions amongst victims. Family members and loved ones, or witnesses to the act, are also impacted. Yazidis, a group characterised by practicing an ancient religion that contains elements of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, were targeted by so called Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) in Northern Iraq in 2014. As a result of the targeted attack on women and girls living in the area of Mount Sinjar, many were kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery and killed. An estimated 4,000 people fled their homes in Iraq and took refuge in Turkey.[1]