Although this hasn't been considered "breaking news" by the media, I felt it deserved some attention as this should be of deep concern for every American as the possibility and threat of ISIS in our neighborhoods is very real. Consider that currently their are some cases where judges have to rule on Shariah law and in fact six states — Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Tennessee have passed a “foreign laws†bill. It is named "foreign laws" because in 2010 two federal courts declared that singling out Shariah was unconstitutional.
We're witnessing revival of slave trade in the 21st century (CNN)Nothing prepared me for what I saw and heard when I visited refugees from the conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
As I traveled to Iraq and Syria, and to neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to meet with refugees and displaced women, I heard firsthand the horrifying stories of how they have been targeted in this conflict.
I was told, for example, how mothers with babies were separated out by members of ISIL (also known as ISIS) because it is the younger women who they want to take. I heard how these younger women are examined to see if they are virgins, and how the younger and prettier they are, the more likely they are to get taken to ISIL's headquarters in Raqqa. And I heard how the rest are taken to open markets, where they will end up being auctioned after being examined like cattle.
I was in the Middle East as the special representative of the secretary general on sexual violence in conflict, and while I had been monitoring the situation since the crisis began, this was the first time I was able to visit those who have been disproportionately affected by the conflict.
The refugees and displaced women and girls I met told me how sexual violence is being committed strategically, in a systematic manner, and with a high degree of sophistication by most of the parties to the conflicts. Indeed, as I moved from country to country, I came to the terrible conclusion that this is in essence a war on women and girls, a group that finds itself under assault every day, and every step of the way, whether it be in areas of active conflict, those under control of armed actors, or at checkpoints and border crossings.
But while it is true that most parties to the conflict are committing sexual violence, it is extremist groups like ISIL that have been particularly public and shameless in institutionalizing sexual violence and engaging in the brutalization of women and girls as a tactic of terror to advance their key strategic objectives.
ISIS: Enslaving, having sex with 'unbelieving' women, girls is OK
For a start, it is clear that ISIL has been working to increase recruitment by promising male fighters access to women and girls. In addition, the group has been raising funds through the sale of women and girls in slave markets and through ransoms paid by relatives. And the group has also been using sexual violence to displace populations, while also using the threat of sexual violence to extract information for intelligence purposes.
Women and girls I spoke with described being treated as property to be owned and traded, or else as vessels for producing children for fighters. In ISIL strongholds in Syria and Iraq, Raqqa and Mosul, women and girls are held in houses and buildings before they are inspected, selected and sold in "bazaars" where prices can be negotiated. Simply put, we have been witnessing the revival of the slave trade in the 21st century.
What can and should we do? Such extreme violence requires political and security responses, but also legal and social response...
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/11/opinions/bangura-isis-treatment-women/index.html
