From Survivors to Changemakers: the Yazidi genocide as a catalyst for redefinition of women's social relevance

This final paper aims to investigate the change that has occurred in relation to the social position of women in the Yazidi community, following the genocide carried out by ISIS in 2014. In particular, through a review of the literature, the characteristics of existing legislation on gender-based violence, intersectionality of the crime of genocide, and the use of sexual violence against Yazidi women as a genocidal tool are presented. Given the obsolescence of the current international law on genocide, this paper emphasizes the need to reform the international legal and judiciary system in order to better meet the novel needs of women survivors, given the revitalized social relevance they have been able to carve out for themselves, in response to the events of the massacre. By assessing the international community's response to the events, it concludes that Yazidi women have been able to rewrite the history of their community by changing the narrative from passive victims to active change-makers, laying the groundwork for long-term positive effects aimed at a more pervasive cultural and ethnic preservation of their people.