Controversial Campaign to Buy Back ISIS Sex Slaves Hits Funding Milestone

Canadian businessman Steve Maman had raised half a million dollars as of Thursday via crowdfunding site GoFundMe for a controversial scheme to ransom Yezidi and Christian women from their ISIS captors.

Maman, who claims to have already rescued 128 girls and women from ISIS captivity, told investigative website Vocativ that he has been paying middlemen who negotiate with ISIS to ransom the women for between $1,000 and $3,000. The deals are said to take place in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The women, many of whom have faced violent sexual abuse, are then taken to refugee camps where they receive food, water, shelter and medical care, Maman told Vocativ.

But critics have raised red flags about the scheme, worrying that Maman is only funneling more money to ISIS’ terrorist campaign. Others are worried that the ransoms will simply encourage further abductions, which in turn will drive ransom demands even higher.

Thousands of Yezidis have been killed by ISIS and there are thought be large numbers of Yezidi and Christian women living in sexual captivity to ISIS fighters.

[Vocativ]

Meet the Kurdish Women Taking the Battle to ISIS

18-year-old YPJ (Women's Protection Unit) fighter Torin Khairegi: “We live in a world where women are dominated by men. We are here to take control of our future. I injured an ISIS jihadi in Kobani. When he was wounded, all his friends left him behind and ran away. Later I went there and buried his body. I now feel that I am very powerful and can defend my home, my friends, my country, and myself. Many of us have been martyred and I see no path other than the continuation of their path."

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

YPJ fighters on their base at the border between Syria and Iraq. Young female fighters are indoctrinated to the ideology of their charismatic leader, Abdullah Ocalan, head of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), who promotes marxist thought and empowerment of women.

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

18 year-old YPJ fighter Saria Zilan from Amuda, Syria: "I fought ISIS in Serikani. I captured one of them and wanted to kill him, but my comrades did not let me. He kept staring at the ground and would not look at me, because he said it was forbidden by his religion to look at a woman."

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

20-year old YPJ fighter Aijan Denis from Amuda, Syria: "Where I am now, men and women are equal and we all have the same thought, which is fighting for our ideology and the rights of women. My three sisters and I are all in YPJ."

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YPJ members take part in daily combat training at their base in Serikani. Syria.

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

Three YPJ fighters sit in an armed vehicle at their base in eastern Syria, days after returning from the front.

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

YPJ members, including one who was wounded fighting against ISIS in Kobani, Syria, at the all-women Asayesh Security Base in Derek, Syria.

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

16 year-old YPJ fighter Barkhodan Kochar from Darbasi, Syria: "The war influenced me a lot. Before joining YPJ, whenever I asked my family about politics, they'd say 'that's not your business, you're just a girl'. But when I saw how the women of YPJ gave their lives for what they believed in, I knew that I wanted to be one of them."

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

A billboard showing fallen YPJ solders, reading, “With you we live on and life continues.”

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

In Western Kurdistan, the Syrian autonomous region Kurds call Rojava, young people are taught the ideology of the PYD (the Democratic Union Party of Syria), an affiliate of PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party). Many of these young people will soon be drafted into YPJ and YPG armies to fight ISIS.

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

in Syria, graves of YPJ members who were killed fighting ISIS. In the foreground, female fighters are buried together.

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

A picture of 17 year-old Cicek Derek, who died in the besieged city of Kobani, Syria, where her fellow fighters were unable to retrieve her body.

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

Rojin, the sister of 17 year-old YPJ fighter Cicek Derek who died fighting in Kobani, Syria. "When my mother told Cicek, 'Please stay with your mother', she answered 'I left to fight for all the mothers of the world. I cannot stay here'."

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

A scarf belonging to 17-year-old YPJ fighter Cicek Derek, who was killed in Kobani, Syria, was all that could be brought back to her family. Her body remains in Kobani.

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

A wedding dress outside a bridal shop in a town near Qamishlou, Syria. YPG graffiti can be seen on the walls of adjacent buildings. YPJ and YPG members are neither allowed to marry, nor can they have sexual relationships, according their ideology.

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

20 year-old YPJ fighter Beritan Khabat from Derek, Syria. She joined the YPJ four years ago to protect her homeland and put an end to the suppression of women. "I fought ISIS in Jezza and Serikani. Women of YPJ are not scared of ISIS."

Newsha Tavakolian for TIME

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