When Daesh (ISIS) attacked the Sinjar Province in northern Iraq in 2014, they captured many girls and women from the Kurdish ethnic minority group known as Yazidi. Since the Yazidi females were not Muslim, the Daesh said they must convert to Islam and become Sabaya or sex slaves. According to sources in this moving documentary, many of the girls and women are raped, married, and/or sold as Sabaya. Filmmaker Hogir Hirori bravely follows leaders of the Yazidi Home Center in Syria, who attempt to rescue the girls and women. Filmed in real-time, many shots are at night as the armed Yazidi men attempt dangerous rescues.
At the Yazidi Home Center, a nonprofit organization near the Syria and Iraq border, Shejk Ziyad, head of the center, and his colleague Mahmud Resho respond to calls from Yazidi family members seeking help in finding daughters and female relatives captured by the Daesh. Cell service is sporadic. They create a large poster board with as many pictures as they can find of the girls and women. Nearby is the Al Hol camp where the Syrian Democratic Forces have captured and retained 73,000 Daesh supporters.
In a large white tent city, Ziyad and Mahmud place female infiltrators garbed in black niqabs inside Al Hol camp to assist with locating the Yazidi females. Once they have a lead, Ziyad and Mahmud arm themselves with pistols, and head for the camp. Female military commander Eylol supports the men’s efforts. The first girl rescued is Leila. She is traumatized and Mahmud’s mother Zahra, his wife Siham, and his son Shadi treat her kindly at the center.
Mahmud learns there are Daesh women in the camp hiding the girls and women, and, these women are also involved in smuggling and selling the females. Mahmud and Ziyad confront such women in an effort to locate other Yazidi females. On another quest for information, Ziyad and Mahmoud visit the Hassake Prison and talk to several inmates. After several girls and women are rescued, the situation around the center becomes unsafe. Daesh is burning villages, the Al Hol camp is becoming more difficult to control by the Syrian Democratic Forces, and a few dangerous men escaped the camp.
At the center, the group watches tv and learns the Turkish president is giving the go-ahead to attack Kurdish forces. Ziyad and Mahmud formulate a plan to return the girls and women to Sinjar Province and conduct an exchange for more female infiltrators. The work doesn’t stop. At the conclusion of the film, sources state that 206 Yazidi girls and women have been rescued and more than 2,000 females are still missing. This sober documentary reflects the courage and determination of the Yazidi people caught up in a political and religious conflict. Highly recommended.
What kind of film series would this fit in?
Sabaya fits in with documentary films about women's rights in the Middle East.
What academic library shelves would this title be on?
Sabaya would fit in with sociology (gender, social issues), political science, and religion.
What can this educational documentary be used as a resource for?
Sabaya is useful for class discussions on religious intolerance, smuggling and trafficking of women, political conflict, and gender issues.
Discover more titles with our list of political issues movies.