About Xatê Shingali

Xatê is a well-known wedding and ceremonial singer 
in the Yazidi community.
 On August 3, 2016, exactly two years after Sinjar was 
invaded by the Islamic State, she formed 
the battalion ‘Sun Ladies’.
‘The sun comes back day after day, like us
 and we will bring back light and joy to our region’
 she told me.
Sex slavery became an ‘established recruiting tool by the IS to lure men from deeply conservative Muslim societies’* and some of the ‘Sun Ladies’ have been among these slaves and witnessed the genocide at first hand.
Xatê and her comrades are based in a former schoolhouse in Sinjar,
 which also served as an Islamic State headquarter. Here they live together and undertake daily trainings.

Watch THE INTRODUCTION and THE INTERVIEW
[ Available on February 26, 2017 ]

Links and additional Info:
• How a group of Yazidi women are fighting back against the ISIS by Vogue
with images from Nicole Tung
• ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape* by the NYTimes