Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Among other atrocities, they abducted thousands of women and girls and traded many of them into sexual slavery. The aim of this study is to determine the mental health of women and girl survivors of these events in relation to enslavement and experiences with genocide-related events, as well as perceived social rejection in their community.
Between February and July , trained local assessors interviewed a sample of Yazidi women and girls 65 of whom had survived sexual enslavement , aged between 17 and 75 years, and living in internally displaced person camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD and depression symptoms were assessed using validated Kurdish versions of standard instruments.
Scales for trauma exposure and perceived rejection were developed for the purpose of this study. Participants reported a high number of traumatic events. Trauma exposure and enslavement predicted poor mental health. In addition, among formerly enslaved girls and women, perceived social rejection in their community mediated the relationship between traumatic enslavement events and depression symptoms. In a context of maximum adversity, enslavement and war-related events contribute to high levels of PTSD and depression.
Perceived social rejection seems to play a role in the relationship between trauma exposure and mental health among abducted genocide survivors. Providing psychosocial support and treatment for Yazidi people is essential and urgently required. The online version of this article They are followers of Yazidism, a non-Abrahamic, orally transmitted religion [ 2 ] that shares common characteristics with Christianity, Islam, and other monotheistic religions.
In June , ISIS fighters captured the center of the Nineveh governorate in Iraq and announced a campaign to purify their Caliphate of non-Arab and non-Sunni Muslim communities, committing numerous atrocities against the civilian population.
