According to the Islamist extremist group ISIS, it is now okay to take non-Muslim women and girls as slaves.
On Friday, armed men passed out “Question and Answers on Female Slaves and their Freedom” pamphlets to Mosul residents in Iraq. The document, which was retrieved and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, instructs Islamic State fighters that non-believing women and girls can be taken captive and even sold or traded to other Muslims. The document then goes into extensive detail on ISIS’ policy on having sexual intercourse with a female slave.
“If she is a virgin, he [her master] can have intercourse with her immediately after taking possession of her,” the pamphlet reads. “However, is she isn't, her uterus must be purified [first]…”—as in, one must wait for her period to ensure she is not already pregnant.
Other rules include that a man can only have intercourse with a girl who has not yet reached puberty if she is “fit” for intercourse (though there is no clarification as to what this means, exactly). Female slaves cannot be beaten for pleasure, only punishment. Also, a man cannot engage in any activity with a slave he does not own.
On the bright side (which really isn’t bright at all), women cannot be separated from her prepubescent children or be sold if she is pregnant. Freedom is possible, too—the document does say an owner can free female slaves as a way to have a sin forgiven. When it comes to female slaves running away however, ISIS declares that action among the “gravest of sins.”
In the last month alone, it's reported that more than 2,500 women from Syria and Iraq have been kidnapped, with several thousands more still missing.
While the contents of the new handbook are shocking and horrifying, sadly, they don’t come as a surprise. In the past, the Islamist extremist group has released videos of beheadings of non-Muslims, taken hostages around the world and threatened great acts of terror.