Stop claiming that ISIS wives are victims
Many of these women played a leading and active role in the abuse and rape of girls as young as eight across Iraq and Syria
For years, ISIS continued its barrage against the Yazidi villages in and around Sinjar, known by the Kurds in Iraq as Shengal. ISIS had strangled all it could around the mountain until the good people inside were left blue with death, slavery, or forced conversion.
I am escorted into a tent where a woman with a thin, wavy body has burrowed herself into the corner, sobbing silently into a silky black scarf, shoulders slouched and trembling. She is a survivor of sex slavery. Although she is alive, she is barely living, and grief hangs over her like a mantle. I had never felt the presence of grief in such a way, in a way where he paints your bones and pushes your shoulders into the earth like a ton of bricks. Girls and women tiptoe into the tent behind me. No one wants to remember this ordeal, this loss of honor and dignity. Although rape has long been taboo and terrifying within the staunchly conservative Yazidi community, the silence is slowly, remarkably shifting.
In that suffocating room, the women hold each other up, their embraces reassuring each other that they are now safe, even if only for a moment. The most valuable thing I own is my 99-cent notebook, with which I can try to pass on the plight of these survivors in the hopes that, somehow, they will not slip from the world's oblivion. I feel as guilty to be there inside the most intimate moments of their lives as I am grateful. I did not have to do anything to earn their trust except arrive from America. Yet I would do everything I could, hidden behind my notebook, to ensure I did their stories and vulnerability justice.
Reflecting on this 2015 diary entry, I am now reminded that the wives of ISIS, often portrayed as victims of circumstance or coercion, warrant a closer examination. While it's tempting to view these women solely through the lens of victimhood, the reality is far more nuanced.
First and foremost, we cannot forget that many women who join ISIS do so willingly, driven by ideological zeal, personal conviction, or a desire for adventure. These women are not passive bystanders but active participants in the propagation of ISIS's violent agenda. They willingly embrace and perpetuate the extremist ideology that underpins the group's atrocities, including the subjugation of women, the brutal enforcement of Sharia law, and the promotion of terrorism. I'll never forget meeting several ISIS widows inside a decrepit and sprawling displacement camp in Syria.
Of course, they told me whatever sob stories they could as a means to convince their home governments to liberate them from the constraints of the camp and fly them home into freedom. With our backs turned, some would spit on the guards and claw at one another in argument. I remember the countless ISIS victims who would tell me how the wives forced them to cook and clean until their nails bled. These vicious women took great pleasure in humiliating them in fits of abuse that felt as though it would never end.
Moreover, the notion of victimhood implies a lack of agency, yet many ISIS wives actively contribute to the organization's operational and logistical activities. They serve as recruiters, propagandists, and enforcers of ISIS's draconian rules, playing a pivotal role in sustaining the group's reign of terror. It was often women sent to the markets to bring home a new slate of young, terrified girls to abuse. But that isn't all. From disseminating extremist propaganda online to facilitating the recruitment of new fighters and providing logistical support for terrorist operations, these women were integral to ISIS's survival and expansion.
While some may have been coerced or manipulated into joining the group, in my experience, most were drawn to ISIS by a genuine belief in its radical ideology or a desire for power and status within the organization. For many of these women, joining ISIS represents a conscious choice driven by deeply held beliefs and convictions.
In addition, the actions of ISIS wives often directly contribute to the perpetuation of violence and suffering in conflict-affected regions. Many women within the organization are complicit in heinous crimes, including the enslavement, torture, and murder of innocent civilians. By actively participating in ISIS's reign of terror, these women forfeit any claim to victimhood and must be held accountable for their actions.
I've seen some news reports over the years attempt to imply that ISIS wives are victims of human trafficking – a characterization that makes my skin crawl. Has our society stooped so low as to believe that everyone is a victim because they say so? By downplaying their agency and culpability, we risk underestimating the threat posed by female extremists and neglecting the vital role they play in sustaining terrorist networks.
Of course, a case-by-case evaluation is needed, but let's not forget that the wives of ISIS are not passive victims but active participants in the group's atrocities, and they must be held accountable for their actions. Only by confronting the reality of their involvement can we hope to combat the scourge of terrorism and extremism effectively.
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