A Yazidi woman who was held as a sex slave by ISIS has asked the world
to unite in the fight against the terrorist group during a speech in
London.
Nadia Murad, 21, was orphaned by ISIS, who killed her mother and six
brothers in Sinjar, Northern Iraq, and taken by the group and kept as a
sex slave.
Murad was among more than 5,000 Yazidi women taken captive when ISIS took Sinjar. More than 3,400 remain in captivity, she said.
"A year and a half has passed and the genocide against the Yazidis is
continuous. We die every day because we see the world silent in the
face of our plight," she said, according to the Mirror.
Describing the massacre of her family, Murad said:
"My mother saw
them killing my brothers and then they took my mother and killed her.
"I was already orphaned as I didn't have a father, all I had in the war was my mother," she said.
"But when they took me to Mosul and raped me, I forgot my mother and
brothers. Because what they were doing to the women was more difficult
than death.
"Imagine until now, for more than a year and a half, girls as young as nine are being rented and sold [for sex]."
Murad has been campaigning for two months since her release seeking
to raise awareness of the plight of the Yazidi people."When I speak I
didn't speak just on my behalf, but on behalf of all the women and
children affected in the war zone," she said.
Yazidism is an offshoot of Zoroastrianism, which blends ancient
religious traditions with both Christianity and Islam. According to ISIS
doctrine, Yazidis are "devil-worshippers", and many have been
systematically persecuted by militants.
"About 5,800 Yazidi women and children were captured by the so-called
Islamic State. They have killed many people in Iraq and Syria and
displaced millions," Murad said.
"For us, the Yazidis, they killed the men and took the women and
children. They were committing all kinds; murder, rape and displacing
people by force in the name of Islam. Many people may think my story is
difficult, but many more had more difficult than mine. They killed six
of my brothers, but there are families that have lost 10 brothers," she
said.
"At this moment, there are still 3,400 women in the hands of ISIS. All we are asking is that our women are freed."
During her speech at the Trade Union Congress House in London, she
branded ISIS "criminals" and compelled the global community to "come on
board" in the fight against them.
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