Slavery in the Name of Islam: Human Trafficking and Geopolitical Maneuverings within ISIS

There are an estimated 3,114 Yazidi women currently enslaved by the Islamic State (IS or ISIS). Another estimated 10,000 Yazidis have been murdered. Yet the international community has not yet implemented a comprehensive... [ view full abstract ]

There are an estimated 3,114 Yazidi women currently enslaved by the Islamic State (IS or ISIS). Another estimated 10,000 Yazidis have been murdered. Yet the international community has not yet implemented a comprehensive strategy to address these atrocities. Since ISIS's establishment, the terrorist organization has maintained an elaborate and sophisticated sex-slave trade, providing vast financial support (an estimate $10-$30 million in revenue) and using the trade as a recruitment tool targeting soldiers from conservative Muslim communities. ISIS justifies these practices using a selective reading of Islamic religious and historical texts. Through an evaluation of historical scholarship as well as a primary account from a former ISIS Yazidi slave (Nadia Murad), propaganda documents, and political reports, I argue that ISIS's implementation of female slavery serves a greater purpose than merely following a "religious requirement." While scholars debate the historicity and ethics of ISIS’s tactics, the firsthand accounts recalled by Yazidi victims support the argument that the incentives for perpetuating sex slavery are fundamentally geopolitical. Practices of slavery perpetuate terrorism, sexual violence, and acts of genocide that are driven primarily by a quest for power and not necessarily religious piety. The international community might therefore do well to position its responses within a framework that addresses the global human trafficking network, one that views these crimes as a fundamental attack on human rights and not (merely) as a cultural movement or religious revival.