A new Frontline documentary shares the story of an underground railroad created to save the Yazidi women. Called Escaping ISIS, the film focuses on how these women and girls, who live in northern Iraq, are being enslaved and tortured by Islamic militants.
Learn how an underground railroad is saving Yazidi women in this documentary. (Credit: PBS)
For your next religion based research paper, consider discussing the documentary and how it will help the Yazidi women escape ISIS.
An unknown people
The Yazidi might have been known to the outside world, if not for the rise of the Islamic militants known as ISIS. An isolated ethnic group, who live in northern Iraq, the Yazidi women and men do not practice Islam, but instead adhere to their own ancient religion. The fact that these people are not Muslims have made them a target for ISIS, who have been killing the men and enslaving the Yazidi women and girls since they came to power in the region.
The story of the Yazidi and their struggles is told in the new Frontline documentary. The film’s director, Edward Watts, was interviewed by NPR “In ‘Escaping ISIS,’ An Underground Railroad Forms To Save Yazidi Women” posted on NPR.org on July 14, 2015. Watts told NPR about the man behind the underground railroad that is working to save the Yazidi women from ISIS. “Khalil al-Dakhi is one of a very small group of activists. There are about six or seven of these guys who are trying to rescue the captured Yazidi women and children,” Watts explained.
Underground railroad to freedom
While the Frontline documentary details the horrors these Yazidi women and children bear at the hands of the Islamic militants of ISIS, it also shares the harrowing journeys they undertake to escape their captors. Jessica Eggert posted “‘Escaping ISIS’: Stories of the women and children who escaped” on mashable.com on July 15, 2015, with more about their struggles and attempts to escape via this underground railroad.
Eggert wrote, “Many escapees walk for several days with little food and water, often barefoot, risking getting recaptured and killed.” She said that the captured Yazidi women contact resistance fighters begging for assistance, saying their only other option is suicide. While they are in ISIS controlled territory, they must wear clothing that covers all of their bodies, except for their eyes. The Yazidi women (and children) face rape, physical abuse and even death. Anyone found aiding the women against ISIS also faces death at the hands of the Islamic militants.
Who are the Yazidi women and men?
According to “On Death Mountain, the Yazidis Faced a Desperate Struggle; the Yazidis Face Permanent Exile Unless the Islamic State Is Defeated” by Janine Di Giovanni for the August 29, 2014, issue of Newsweek, the Yazidi’s religion combines elements of Christianity, Islam, Paganism and Zoroastrianism. An ancient people, this is not the first time they have suffered persecution.
Di Giovanni wrote that they are mostly isolated from modern life, living in the mountains much the same way they have since settling in an area around Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq in the 12th century. “I was told only about 750 Yazidis were left in Iraq, with small pockets in Syria and Turkey,” Di Giovanni explained.
The U.S. did intervene in late July and early August of 2014 in the region, providing humanitarian aid drops to the people of northern Iraq, including Christians and Yazidi women, children and men, who had been under siege by the Islamic militants of ISIS. At that time, about 80,000 people left the region and found temporary safety in Dohuk in Kurdistan.
Want to learn more about Islamic fundamentalism? Check out Questia—particularly the section on women in Islam.
Will the attention the Frontline documentary brings to the plight of the Yazidi women help them escape ISIS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
