Your partnership, prayers, and help is needed today like never before. Today there are hundreds of young women who were former ISIS sex slaves that were able to escape from ISIS, but need help.

A little over one year ago, ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) ripped through northern Iraq with such ferocity that no one was able to stop them. As a first order of business ISIS invaded Iraq’s most populated Christian city and immediately began slaughtering men, women, and children.

After the take over of Mosul, the jihadi fighters found themselves in desperate need of female companions. To meet this growing need, ISIS focused on a remote area known as the Sinjar Mountains – the home of the Yazidi minority group. For the Muslim extremists, Yazidi’s are the lowest form of human life. They have an oral religion that does not have a “book.” They are a “people without a book.” In the ISIS view of Islam, people without a book are lower than even the Christians and the Jews because at least Christians and Jews have a “book.”

All the men in the villages were gathered up and separated from the women and children. Every young boy that looked like he might be close to man hood was forced to lift up his shirt so that the jihadis could inspect whether his armpits had any sign of hair or not. If there was any sign of hair in the armpit, indicating that he was going through puberty, he would be forced to join the other men.

The women and children were then divided up. All the females were loaded on to large buses that were waiting for them. The male children were loaded on to separate buses. The male children were forced into training that would see them study the Koran, adopt Islam, and eventually be trained as ISIS soldiers. These young boys would never see their families again.

What waited for the women was nightmarish. They were taken to a large auditorium where they were lined up and each one was recorded according to their age, ethnicity, and marital status. From there they were ready for auction.

The women were taken to another location and sold as if they were cattle at an auction to ISIS fighters.

According to the translated document above – women between the ages of 1-9 years old were sold for $172 USD.

Once the ISIS soldier purchased his slave girl, he was free to do with her as he wished. The fighters did not show any mercy or respect to the women. Instead they brutally raped them over and over again. Every woman and young girl that was sold to an ISIS fighter was systematically raped, humiliated, and brutally beaten in the name of Islam.

After a year in slavery, some of the women were able to escape and make it to the Kurdish area of safety.

They are safe from ISIS, but their nightmares are far from over.

A list of about 400 former slave girls has been given to BTJ that are in desperate need of help.

The youngest of them is only ten years old.

Some have been rejected by their families and have been rejected by their social circles because of the shame of rape and humiliation that they carry with them. They have nowhere to turn.

How can you help?

You can join BTJ today as we start a safe house called the “House of Hope.” The House of Hope is where these former slave girls can come and live for free. The House of Hope will provide security and will have 24 hour monitoring by two house mothers who will provide comfort, love, and help for the road to recovery.

At the “House of Hope” the former slave girls will be helped in three ways:

1. Counseling – The traumatic experience of rape and abuse is too much for one person to process by themselves. A team of counselors from around the world has been assembled to provide the kind of spiritual, emotional, and physical support that is needed. The team of counselors have experience working with rape victims in war torn areas. The house mothers will also be apart of this process and will provide emotional support around the clock.
2. Education and skills – For those that are under the age of 18, access to a basic education will be a number one priority. For those that are over the age of 18, they will be trained in various vocational skills that can be used in the local job market – skills like sewing, accounting, baking, etc. This will also be a form of continued therapy to help get their minds focused on their future life. Idle environments for extended periods of time can prove to be unhealthy for the recovery process.
3. Business Opportunities – After a year in the House of Hope, BTJ will supply the women with the training, tools, and support necessary to start micro-businesses. Being able to support themselves and run their own business is an additional step that can help ensure that these women do not become victimized again in the future.

The support for the women who were former ISIS slaves is not a short term effort. There will be a long road to recovery ahead and all hands are needed on deck to help with this effort. Your help is desperately needed today to make a difference.