The Women of ISIS

For the past few months, the Islamic State of Syria, more commonly known as ISIS, has been making headlines with their reign of terror in Syria and Iraq. Public beheadings, cruxifixions, and the kidnapping of innocent journalists have claimed the attention of the American media and the rest of the world alike. However, the cruel treatment of women under ISIS rule has yet to be widely covered by the media. The past and present issues in the Middle East, including the Taliban’s war on women and legal inferiority of women, make the treatment of women one of the most important issues today. The United State’s recent conflicts with a new Islamic terrorist group, ISIS, only sheds light on the unfortunate truth that women’s rights are still nonexistent in places around the world. The oppression and brutality that women in the Islamic State of Syria are facing right now may seem far away, but it translates to problems that women face even here in the United States. Feminism on a global scale seems to be slipping through the cracks. It goes beyond equal pay.

In the Islamic State of Syria, which has an army estimated to have anywhere from 30,000 – 50,000 troops, human trafficking is widely accepted. In an online magazine called the Dariq, produced by the Islamic State, ISIS justifies its reasons for enslaving women in an article entitled “The Revival of Slavery Before the Hour”. The article explains that “one should remember that enslaving the families of the kuffār and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the Sharī’ah,” and that “if one were to deny or mock, he would be denying or mocking the verses of the Qur’ān… and thereby apostatizing from Islam.” The Sharī’ah is ancient code of religious law, written in Arabic and used by ISIS as a fundamental set of morals to live by. So basically, raping, beating, and forcing women to be sex slaves is fine because a book written thousands of years ago said something obscure about men ruling the world. Makes sense, right? Under this backwards, extremist interpretation of Islam law, women from outside the state are kidnapped, imprisoned and sold into forced marriages with military officers, some girls going for as little as $12. The women already living in the state are legally treated as second class citizens, with a strictly enforced dress code and little to no personal rights. Women are not allowed in public without a man present, and the opportunity for education is little to none. Recently, ISIS has also created a law that will call for all girls and women ages 11-46 to undergo “fatwa” which is a type of genital mutilation used in the dark ages to prevent women from getting any pleasure from sex. This new order will potentially affect up to 4 million women in and around the capital city of Mosul. I am disgusted.

Such outrageous treatment seems unthinkable to us, but in a culture where the women are consistently abused and oppressed, the number of women that are joining ISIS is increasing every day. Women that are already married and settled in the Islamic state are reaching out and encouraging other women to do the same, using social media websites such as twitter, tumblr and ask.fm. Following the public execution of journalist James Foley in August, more than 30,000 pro-ISIS twitter accounts were activated, (Buzzfeed news) many of them women who seemed to be recruiting others to the community. One woman of ISIS, who is known online under the name Umm Layth, frequently updates a detailed blog about her daily life in the Islamic state, and is very encouraging of other women from around the world to leave their families and join her. Before her twitter was deactivated, she would also tweet out information and encouragement, saying how nice her community was and offering advice to women looking to join. Her public profile was one of thousands to be suspended, but they keep popping right back up, and more and more women keep joining the ranks.

It doesn’t surprise me that a few crazies would try and operate on such twisted logic, but an entire developing nation? ISIS seeks to control as much land and gain as much power as possible, and the fact that they are enforcing such cruel and horribly objectifying practices on women should be at the headline of every newspaper. Even more, the fact that women are accepting and even embracing this treatment speaks on its own to say that we have a long way to go. Less than 100 years ago, women could not vote in the United States. Women have been tolerating oppression for thousands of years, and just because we are becoming more equal here in the United States does not mean that we should ignore the struggles of women on the other side of the world. It seems far away, but it directly relates to us here.

The issue of gender equality has been prevalent since the beginning of time, starting in the garden of Eden. Ever since Eve ate that apple and brought Original Sin to all of humanity, things have been rough for womenfolk all over. Google defines “feminism” as the theory that women should be socially, politically and economically equal to men. It is also called common sense. Feminism is often put down as an issue that doesn’t matter anymore, because in the United States women and men are technically legally considered equal. Even though women are paid less than men and constantly objectified and sexualized by the media, at least we can vote, right? It’s definitely better here than it is in Syria, but that doesn’t mean that women in America should stop caring. If women are still being dehumanitized, it still matters.

Think about the last time a boy your age referred to Sacred Heart as a “daycare” where girls do nothing but color pictures. Think about the way girls and women are ridiculed and ostracized for being equally as promiscuous as males are. It seems irrelevant in comparison, but it relates more than you think. We can all relate to the struggles of being made fun of and sometimes outright hated by men. To quote High School Musical, “we’re all in this together”.

The only way to rise to combat the hostility that we face as a gender is to rise above by binding together. Recognition of the problem is the first step to doing so.