UNITAD publishes a milestone report on sexual violence against women and girls committed by ISIL in Iraq

Baghdad, 3 December 2023: The United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL published today its milestone report on the sexual violence committed by ISIL in Iraq against women and girls during the years 2014-2017. The report presents a comprehensive overview of the Team’s current findings on the nature of some of the gravest international crimes ISIL committed against all Iraqi communities.

The report provides legal analysis of these heinous crimes, which ISIL perpetrated against women, men, girls, and boys, within the framework of International Criminal Law and International Humanitarian Law.

“With this report, UNITAD reaffirms its steadfast commitment to pursuing justice for the heinous crimes committed by ISIL against various Iraqi constituencies. Our dedicated thematic unit investigating the sexual crimes against women, men, boys, and girls remains at the forefront, rigorously working with a trauma-informed approach to unveil the breadth of ISIL’s brutality in Iraq, while adhering to the highest international standards” indicated Special Adviser and Head of UNITAD Christian Ritscher. He, further, added that: “we are grateful for the support of the Iraqi authorities which have facilitated our investigations, and we remain indebted to the brave victims, especially women and girls, who came forward and spoke up, sharing their heart-wrenching accounts and witness testimonies to ensure that ISIL perpetrators are held accountable before competent courts, and that justice is served to all those victims and survivors.”

The report is released coinciding with the 16 Days of Activism campaign, which is taking place this year under the slogan “UNiTE! Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls”. This slogan resonates with UNITAD’s dedicated mandate to expose the magnitude of ISIL’s crimes and promote accountability for these heinous crimes as a critical step in preventing violence and crimes against women and girls from reoccurring. We echo the calls of victims for justice as a crucial step towards healing for all those impacted.

The report can be found in on UNITAD’s website here

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For More Information please contact Public Information Officer (Maha Thaher) for the

United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL,

E-mail: UNITAD-PIO@un.org