the Yazidi genocide

The Yazidi genocide by ISIS began in August 2014, when ISIS forces attacked the Sinjar region of northern Iraq, home to a large Yazidi population. ISIS targeted the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious minority, which ISIS viewed as heretical. The militants systematically massacred Yazidi men and older boys, while women and young girls were taken captive, subjected to slavery, forced conversions, and brutal abuses. Thousands were killed in the initial attack, with mass graves discovered later in the Sinjar area, marking some of the genocide's worst atrocities.

An estimated 6,000 Yazidis, primarily women and children, were taken captive and sold or forced into servitude. The United Nations and several human rights organizations have since classified ISIS’s actions against the Yazidis as genocide, recognizing the systematic effort to destroy the Yazidi community through murder, enslavement, and cultural destruction. Though some survivors have been rescued, thousands remain missing, and the trauma from this genocide continues to affect the Yazidi people, as they work toward justice and recognition for the atrocities committed against them.