[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [official website] issued a briefing [PDF] on Tuesday that said the Islamic State (IS) has exposed Iraq’s Yezdi minority to violence and torture. The briefing details the torturous behaviors IS has exhibited towards Yezdi women, including rape, sexual violence and forcing women and young girls to become married, “sold” or given as gifts to members and supporters of IS. Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Advisor Donatella Rovera [Al Jazeera profile] spoke to individuals in captivity in northern Iraq and stated, “IS fighters are using rape as a weapon in attacks amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity.” Amnesty reported that IS has been committing these crimes as an attempt at ethnic cleansing [press release] in northern Iraq. Rovera further explained that those who have been able to escape captivity have not gotten proper help they need, and that this problem must be addressed:

The Kurdistan Regional Government, UN and other humanitarian organizations who are providing medical and other support services to survivors of sexual violence must step up their efforts. They must ensure they are swiftly and proactively reaching out to all those who may need them, and that women and girls are made aware of the support available to them.

The services available to escapees, according to Amnesty, include but are not limited to: forensic examinations, trauma counseling and support, sexual reproductive health care, legal and financial assistance and safe and legal abortion services.

IS has repeatedly targeted women in IS-controlled areas. Women have specifically been abducted, tortured and sexually exploited in these areas. After the September 2014 public execution of Sameera Salih Ali Al-Nuaimy, an Iraqi lawyer and human rights defender, by firing squad, Prince Zeid warned [JURIST report] that prominent, professional and educated women were at high-risk of becoming IS targets. Human Rights Watch (HRW) [official website] in October reported [press release] on IS’s detention of Yezdi women and children. HRW issued a press release [HRW press release] in June detailing the dangers IS poses to children, indicating that:

Extremist Islamist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham have specifically recruited children through free schooling campaigns that include weapons training, and have given them dangerous tasks, including suicide bombing missions.

Rights groups have considered the acts by IS to be war crimes [JURIST report] and crimes against humanity.