ISIS extremists are using hundreds of Iraqi and Syrian women as prizes for its fighters, according to Bloomberg News.
A U.N. report published Thursday estimates that 500 women and girls from the Yazidi and Christian minority communities have been given to ISIS fighters as rewards or trafficked for sale in Iraq and Syrian markets.
"Women and girls are brought with price tags for the buyers to choose and negotiate the sale. The buyers were said to be mostly youth from the local communities," according to the 29-page U.N. report, citing both victims and witnesses. "Apparently ISIL was 'selling' these Yazidi women to the youth as a means of inducing them to join their ranks."
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The U.N. report adds that ISIS has committed "gross human-rights abuses," including murder and sexual assault. At least 8,493 civilians have died in the Iraqi conflict this year, according to the U.N. report.
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