The power of cultural identity on psychological well-being: Singing, trauma and the resilience of the Yazidi population of northern Iraq

Mourners preparing to bury the remains of 104 Yazidi victims in a cemetery in Sinjar, Iraq on Feb. 6, 2021. The Yazidis were killed by the Islamic State group in 2014, and were given a proper burial after the bodies were exhumed from mass graves and identified through DNA tests. (AP Photo/Farid Abdulwahed)

Behind each door and gate in Sinuni, Iraq, there is a different story of trauma and resilience. The Yazidi community is still coping with the trauma and mental health burden following the ISIS genocide of 2014, where thousands of men, women and children were killed, tortured and kidnapped for sexual slavery.

Eighty-one mass graves have been discovered, the most recent of which was found in June 2022.