Thank you, Mr. Harris.
I'm happy that he asked the question, which was should the Minister of National Defence not ensure that communications, such as on social media, are accurate? Absolutely, Mr. Chairman. I think one of the most important reasons for our Operation Impact is to protect the innocent, including women and children, from the sexual slavery and human trafficking of ISIL. That was the point of the message to which the member refers.
According to the United Nations human rights commissioner, ISIL is guilty of abductions, rape, and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated against women and children, victimizing at least 7,000 Yazidi women and girls, including children as young as eight, who have been systematically raped and sold into sexual slavery. Regrettably, all of these people are being sold into sexual slavery by ISIL as a fundraising mechanism throughout the broader Middle East. It's not only Yazidi women and children, but Christian women and children, Kurds, and minorities, any of those who are deemed to be enemies by ISIL. As soon as they take a village, a town, a city, ISIL regards these women and children—