Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Isis fighters force sex slaves to take birth control so they can continue to rape them

Birth control pills and injections are forced on captives in order to stop them from becoming pregnant so they can repeatedly raped and sold between their captors

Samuel Osborne
Sunday 13 March 2016 06:01 EDT
Comments
Laurence Rossignol, French minister for family, children and women's rights said: 'It is because they are women and they are Yazidis that they are sold and murdered [by Isis]'
Laurence Rossignol, French minister for family, children and women's rights said: 'It is because they are women and they are Yazidis that they are sold and murdered [by Isis]' (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Isis fighters are forcing their sex slaves to take birth control to allow them to continue raping them.

Birth control pills and injections are forced on captives in order to stop them from becoming pregnant so they can repeatedly raped and sold between their captors.

The practise emerged to circumvent a ruling in the Islamic law used by Isis which states a man cannot rape his slave if they are carrying a child.

Another ruling says a man must ensure his newly-bought slave is not carrying another man's child by abstaining from having sex with her for a month, in a process known as Istibra.

Yazidi women speak of rape and beatings at the hands of Isis

One of 37 former sex slaves interviewed by the New York Times said: “Every day, I had to swallow one in front of him. He gave me one box per month.

"When I ran out, he replaced it. When I was sold from one man to another, the box of pills came with me."

When some slaves were sold between fighters, their owners provided the box of birth control as proof they were not pregnant.

At least one pregnant woman was forced to take abortion pills.

Another pregnant slave was repeatedly punched in the stomach after refusing to have an abortion.

Most Isis sex slaves are from the thousands of Yazidi women captured when Isis overran Mount Sinjar in Iraq in 2014.

Yazidi women who escaped from Isis have said as many as 3,400 Yazidi women and children are still being held hostage by the group.

Isis leaders previously issued a fatwa detailing how and when its fighters could rape female sex slaves, which described the practise as "one of the inevitable consequences of jihad".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in