Ten years since Islamic State’s genocide against them, the justice that the Yazidi craved still eludes them.

In August 2014, Islamic State adherents in Syria and Iraq began committing mass murder, forced religious conversion, enslavement and the most egregious sexual violence against Yazidis, a distinct ethno-religious minority. Tens of thousands of people from 89 countries were involved in these crimes, but only two have been prosecuted.

During the weeks of commemorative events held by Yazidi communities in northern Iraq this month, hundreds of families have been chased from refugee camps with hate speech from their Muslim neighbours. Many have described the experience as similar to what happened a decade ago when Islamic State was in charge.

The Iraqi army launched operations this month against a Kurdish militia group, renewing violence in the Sinjar region, the home of many Yazidis. Thousands have fled to the nearby semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The army says the offensive was aimed at dismantling militia checkpoints. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad has called for an end to the violence. Many Yazidi villages have also experienced aerial attack from Turkey over recent years.

Members of the International Criminal Court, such as Australia and Britain, have an obligation to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes  and genocide in their own court systems.

Britain has long advocated for an end to impunity of the kind of sexual violence Islamic State used in Syria and Iraq. It supported UN Security Council resolutions calling for justice for the crimes perpetrated by Islamic State. But more recent British governments made the decision not to prosecute British foreign fighters, saying they should be prosecuted closest to where the crime occurred.

In Australia, successive governments have implemented legislation revoking the citizenship of nationals who joined Islamic State, making prosecuting them harder. Even when foreign fighters, such as Neil Prakash, have returned home, they have been charged with only terrorism offences, not genocide-related offences.

Revoking citizenship of foreign fighters leaves them out in the world able to continue perpetrating crimes in places where protective security and justice systems are not as strong as in Australia. When Turkey began offensive operations against Syria, many Kurdish controlled prisons where many of these criminals were held were destroyed, and prisoners ran free.

The public abuse that Yazidis are experiencing now is emblematic of the systemic discrimination they experience in Iraq. This is why they don’t feel Iraqi courts will ever give them justice. When cases do come before Iraqi courts, individuals are only charged with membership of Islamic State, never genocide.

Germany is the only country to have prosecuted anyone for genocide of the Yazidi, including sexual violence.

There is good reason why the UN Security Council considers ending impunity for conflict-related sexual violence a matter of international peace and security. Throughout the world, the use of sexual violence during armed conflict undermines social stability and long-term peace. According to my research, sexual slavery contributed US$111 million to the economy of Islamic State.

Peace and justice are inextricably linked. Women’s security is fundamental to global security.

This year, the mandate will expire for the UN investigative team that has been gathering evidence of Islamic State crimes in Iraq.

Countries such as Australia, France and Britain, which so often stand firm at the UN Security Council in support of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, need to put their money where their mouths are. They need to undertake the investigations and prosecutions of their nationals who perpetrated sexual violence as crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide while fighting with Islamic State and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq.

Justice delayed is justice denied. The Yazidis have waited long enough. They can wait no longer.