Beyond Conventional Justice: Women's Courts as a Path to Justice in the Yazidi Genocide

On 3 August 2014, ISIS, which has been classified as a terrorist organisation, attacked the Sinjar region in northwest Iraq, explicitly targeting the Yazidi minority community. 1,268 Yazidis are murdered on the first day of attacks in Sinjar. Shortly after the attack, 3,548 Yazidi women and girls were kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery, enduring sexual, physical and emotional abuse, and the majority of them are still missing. The United Nations Commission of the Syrian Arab Republic later recognised these actions as acts of genocide, since ISIS systematically committed those crimes against Yazidis to eradicate them in Sinjar. Despite some efforts by states and international bodies, governments, and UN-led programmes, policies on accountability for ISIS perpetrators have frequently remained weak and inadequate. Thus, these fragmented legal initiatives have failed to provide survivors with a sense that justice has been served. Therefore, this thesis outlines challenges in the judicial process critically evaluates national and international legal bodies and highlights the shortcomings of impunity policies and imperfect justice systems. Drawing on feminist perspectives, it advocates for the establishment of a Women's Court as an ad hoc international tribunal to address the persistent demand for justice from the Yazidi community. It is asserted that this alternative court, designed to strengthen the voices of victims and emphasise restorative justice and global accountability for sexual crimes against women, can empower survivors and meet their needs and demands for justice, and allow them to return to their lives with dignity.