Title: MORE THAN “INK ON PAPER”
Author: Dr. Bojan Gavrilovic
Publisher: Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights
Release date: March 2023.

The passing of the Yazidi (Female) Survivors Law (YSL) by the Government of Iraq (GoI) on March 1, 2021 marked an important milestone in Iraq’s post-conflict recovery period, as it promises to deliver long-awaited relief not only to Yazidi women but also to survivors belonging to several other ethnoreligious communities targeted by the selfdeclared Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It is also one of the very few precedents of states taking deliberative action to specifically address the rights and needs of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). The YSL mandates a number of critical state-sponsored reparative measures including financial support; medical and psychological care; the provision of land, housing, education and a quota in public sector employment. Moreover, it officially recognizes that ISIL committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Yazidi, Christian, Turkmen and Shabak minority groups, and mandates memorialization, the search for those still in captivity, opening of mass graves, identification of remains and their return to the families, and calls Iraqi institutions to ensure that perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity are held accountable.[1]