1. Attitudes of Sinjari Yezidis toward Babies of ISIS Rapes of Yezidis
MedEast Organization
Mr. Jordan Greaser
Dr. Paul M. Kingery
Mr. Khalid Khudeda

2. Survey of 100 Heads of Household
Sinjari IDPs in a village of mixed ethnicity
Late July 2018
Semel District, Dohuk Province, Iraq

3. 29% had female relatives who were impregnated by ISIS fighters while in captivity

4. 99% said the child of an ISIS fighter and a Yezidi mother should be allowed to stay with its mother

5. Should be Reintegrated
Should be Married
Woman who did not become pregnant
100%
98%
Women who aborted baby
Women who abandoned baby
97%
Women who kept baby
56%
54%

6. 30% said the baby should be baptized as Yezidi
30% said the new Yezidi husband should adopt the baby from an ISIS father
30% said the baby should be baptized as Yezidi

7. 72% said the Yezidis must protect them in their own communities
95% wanted facilities in Yezidi communities to protect women who kept their babies
72% said the Yezidis must protect them in their own communities

8. There are no facilities in Yezidi communities that protect Yezidi mothers with babies
from ISIS fathers

9. Yezidi girls with babies from ISIS
There is only one private and one public facility that protects Yezidi girls with or without babies from ISIS, but the public facility has mostly Muslim women who often persecute the
Yezidi girls with babies from ISIS

10. want to keep their babies
All Yezidi women and girls with babies from ISIS fighters whom we have encountered
want to keep their babies

11. Most fetuses are aborted
Late term abortions are less common
Babies are usually abandoned under duress
Abandoned babies usually die

12. 5 Causal Factors for Rejecting Babies
Women have lower status than men
Family and community decide for mothers
Anger against ISIS transfers to babies
False assumption that abandoned babies thrive
Yezidi religious leaders refuse to baptize them

13. 5 Preventive Factors for Accepting Babies
Having a relative who was impregnated by ISIS
Having delivered a baby from an ISIS fighter
Strong maternal-child attachments
Daily exposure to ISIS-Yezidi children
Having an ISIS-Yezidi child in the community
Having a care facility in the community

14. Difficulties Documenting ISIS-Yezidi Babies
Prohibitive cost of $2500
Refusal of muqtars to provide documents
Persecution from legal authorities in process
Child is identified as Arab Muslim not Yezidi
Child takes the name of the terrorist father
Several trips to Tel Kef and Mosul are required
Requires a supportive Kurdish judge

15. Difficulties Obtaining Passports to Leave Iraq
Lack of access to justice
Prohibitive cost of $500
Mother first obtains ID for herself and baby
Long wait

16. Action Steps Awareness raising and advocacy
Referrals to the Safe Home in Semel
Stipendships to support Yezidis in Safe Home
Legal funds made available to Yezidi women
Extensive mental health services for victims
Steam-lined services for immigration

17. breaks to answer questions I will also be available if needed
Khalid Khudeda, who speaks English, Arabic and Kurmanji Kurdish, will be available at the
breaks to answer questions
I will also be available if needed