Daughters of the Sun

A group of Yezidi women and girls who were used as sex slaves by Islamic State, now have to rebuild their lives. With each other’s love and support, and inspired by wise theatre-maker Hussein, they find the strength to look forward again.

In 2014, Islamic State attacked the Sinjar province in southern Kurdistan ‘like hungry wolves’. Sinjar is mostly populated by Yezidi’s. Many Yezidi girls (some as young as 10) were kidnapped and used as sex slaves. Now many of them are freed. But they have to find a way to deal with their deep trauma.

In a refugee camp in Kurdistan, a group of Yezidi women and girls come together to heal. Their group sessions are led by ‘Uncle Hussein’, a wise theatre-maker who helps them, cries with them and makes them laugh. Together they find out that there still is a future. ‘We were enslaved, sold on markets, raped,’ one of the girls says. ‘But they did not succeed in extinguishing the light in our hearts.’ Tender and inspiring documentary by Reber Dosky (Sidik and the Panther).