What is Religious Power

This chapter begins by surveying the historical context of rape in Iraq through the narrative of Eazidi women who escaped enslavement by ISIS. It then discusses the theology of rape in Islam, which has motivated ISIS to commit rape and legitimized the rape of Eazidi women. The chapter then theorizes the social capital of Middle Eastern women. The chapter argues that, for the first time, the Eazidi community in Iraq is altering the social consequences of rape by developing empowerment methods that amount to a social revolution within the Eazidi community. This empowerment not only protects Eazidi women survivors from experiencing common post-rape consequences but also increases their capital, in all its Bourdieusian forms.