This doctor is giving life back to female Yazidi victims of Islamic State

The Yazidi Genocide and Its Human Toll

In August 2014 Islamic State militants seized almost a third of Iraq and carried out what the United Nations has described as an ongoing genocide against the Yazidi religious minority. At least 12,000 Yazidis were killed or kidnapped during that campaign. The attacks targeted entire communities in Sinjar and surrounding areas, separating families and subjecting thousands of women and girls to systematic sexual violence and forced conversion.

Shireen was 19 and studying for a high school examination in her Sinjar home when militants broke into the house on 3 August 2014 and took her from her family. She was sold as a sex slave to an Islamic State fighter in Tal Afar and later resold to another fighter named Abu Omar in Mosul. These events formed part of the broader pattern of abduction and enslavement documented across the Yazidi population.

Life Under Captivity: Forced Conversion and Daily Abuse

Shireen was told by her captors that the Yazidi Peacock Angel Melek Tawwus was the devil and was forced to convert to Islam. For more than two years she was confined to a house in Mosul with two guards at the entrance and was forbidden even to step into the garden for fresh air. She was required to cook, wash dishes and clean every day while living under constant surveillance.

Abu Omar already had two Iraqi wives who lived in a separate house yet beat Shireen whenever they gathered. He later brought two other Yazidi girls to the household, one aged six who was forced to clean and another aged ten. Shireen was raped repeatedly. When she pleaded with Abu Omar to stop, her pleas were ignored. She later recounted that he said he loved her, yet the repeated assaults destroyed her life.

Release, Loss and Lasting Trauma

Shireen was freed in 2016 during the Iraqi forces campaign to retake Mosul. By then her uncle and many friends had been killed by Islamic State. Her father and one sister remain missing since 2014. Upon release she suffered depression and constant nightmares that prevented sleep. She described the horror of knowing that the skeletons of her uncle and friends lay under the ground.

Thousands of other Yazidi women have shared similarly harrowing accounts. As of July 2018 the Kurdistan Regional Government Kidnapped Affairs department in Duhok recorded that 2,023 Yazidi women had been liberated from Islamic State territories. Many continue to live with the physical and psychological consequences of prolonged captivity and gender-based violence.

Dr Nagham Nawzat: Providing Medical and Emotional Care

Dr Nagham Nawzat, a 42-year-old Yazidi gynaecologist born in Mosul in 1976, has dedicated her work to supporting these survivors. After graduating from Mosul Medical College in 2002 she focused on women health issues because she wanted to understand them better, teach women about health care and provide direct support.

In 2015 she joined the Duhok Survivors Centre, the only facility in Iraq specialising in gender-based violence and funded by the United Nations Population Fund. There she volunteers to deliver both physical examinations and psychological support. She uses a post-traumatic medical approach common in Iraq, followed by thorough check-ups and attentive listening to each woman account of her fears and experiences.

Dr Nawzat offers positive reinforcement and acts like a big sister the survivors can confide in. By building relationships based on mutual trust, she enables women to reveal their deepest emotions and fears with greater ease. Hussein al-Qaidi, director of the Kidnapped Affairs department, estimates she has helped approximately 1,200 of the liberated Yazidi women.

Recognition for Combating Gender-Based Violence

In March 2016 Dr Nawzat received the International Women of Courage Award from then US Secretary of State John Kerry. The award recognised her psychological support for traumatised Yazidi survivors and her efforts to combat gender-based violence. Within the Yazidi community she is highly respected for the consistent care she provides.

Shireen visited Dr Nawzat after her release for a medical check-up. The doctor not only conducted the physical examination but also listened and offered emotional support. Shireen has stated that Dr Nawzat helped all of them and that without her help she would not be here today. She recalled that the doctor sat with her and told her she was brave, adding that she loves her so much.

Resilience of Survivors and the Human Rights Imperative

The stories of women like Shireen illustrate both the systematic nature of the crimes committed against Yazidis and the resilience shown by those who have survived. After years of captivity, forced labour, repeated sexual violence and isolation, many have begun to rebuild their lives with the assistance of specialised care at the Duhok centre.

Dr Nawzat work connects directly to the broader human rights need to address the consequences of the genocide. By combining medical treatment with sustained emotional support she helps survivors regain a sense of agency and safety. The centre remains the sole dedicated facility of its kind in Iraq, underscoring the scale of need that persists years after the initial attacks.

Survivors continue to speak of their experiences while receiving care that affirms their strength. The documented liberation figures and the personal accounts of women who have passed through the centre demonstrate both the extent of the harm inflicted and the possibility of recovery when appropriate support is available.