Armenians underwent a genocide in the Ottoman Empire, which climaxed around 1915–16. It has been accepted as the first genocide of the 20th century by scholars of genocide and historians of the late Ottoman period. The Ottomans had intended to destroy the Armenians. Derderuan notes that after being separated from their men who were killed, the Armenian women and children were raped, forcibly converted to Islam and subjected to sexual slavery. Eliz Sanasarian also notes the involvement of Turkish women in perpetrating violence against Armenian women by selling them into sexual slavery. Women who were deemed beautiful were sold as sex slaves to military officials. The remaining women would be beaten and raped. The women were also often forced into prostitution or forcibly married with non-Armenians.