10 years ago, the unspeakable happened

Join us in commemorating the solemn anniversary of the Yazidi genocide on 3rd August 2024 by standing with women survivors of war and conflict.

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Tenth Anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide

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Updated:

400,000+ Yazidis displaced

Source: Nadia's Initiative

6,000+ women and children enslaved

Source: Nadia's Initiative

5,000+ men and older women killed

Source: Nadia's Initiative

10th Anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide

Seve’s life was changed forever

During the Yazidi genocide, almost 10,000 Yazidis were killed or kidnapped by ISIS. Sexual violence was strategically used as a weapon of war in an attempt to destroy the Yazidi community.

Ten years later, 200,000 are still displaced in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where Women for Women International supports Yazidi women through our one-year programme.

Seve is one of the women, whose world was shattered by the genocide. Late at night, safe in her home, she was abruptly awoken by a neighbour urging her family to flee. Islamic State fighters had descended upon their village, spreading terror and chaos. Men were executed; women and girls were abducted, forced into slavery, and subjected to unspeakable horrors. In that moment of disbelief and panic, Seve and her husband made the harrowing decision to run for their lives, leaving everything behind. 

Seve recounted later, her voice heavy with the memory of those traumatic hours: 

We decided to run away and not take anything with us.

By joining the Women for Women International programme, Seve has found a refuge among fellow survivors and began to heal. 

Join us in commemorating this solemn anniversary by standing with women survivors of war and conflict.

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Seve and her family in Khanke camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2016. Photo: Alison Baskerville
Seve and her family in Khanke camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2016. Photo: Alison Baskerville

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