For two and a half years Daesh has been committing genocide against the Yazidi religious minority in Northern Iraq and Syria. Much more than simply mass killing, this genocide is a daily horror for thousands of Yazidi women and girls who have been continually subject to the “non-killing” crimes of
genocide. This briefing describes these crimes and Daesh’s gendered campaign of destruction.

I. The Definition of Genocide

Genocide is any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group: (a) killing; (b)
causing serious bodily or mental harm; (c) deliberately inflicting conditions of life to bring about physical destruction; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births; or (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Daesh is committing each of these acts against Yazidi women and girls.

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