Iraq kidnapped by Islamic State: 'I was a victim of sexual jihad

Nadia Murad was held hostage for months and has the extreme suffering of routine imposed by extremists to women religious minority

When members of the group calling itself the Islamic State (EI) invaded the village of Nadia Murad in Iraq, killed all the men, including six of his brothers.

Nadia is the Yazidi ethnic and religious minority, considered "infidel" by extremists EI.

She and hundreds of other Yazidi women were abducted, sold and hand in hand passed by men who raped group. Were victims of the EI calls "sexual jihad".

Nadia managed to escape, but it is believed that thousands of women are still trapped.

Nadia Murad is in London campaign to draw attention to his people.
The attack
On August 3, 2014, the EI attacked Yazidis in Sinjar region in northern Iraq next to a mountain of the same name. Before that they had attacked places like Tal Afar, Mosul and other Shiite and Christian communities, forcing the departure of residents.

"Life in our village was very happy, very simple. As in other villages, people did not live in palaces. Our houses were simple clay, but we took a happy life without problems. Do not upset you the other and had good relations with everyone, "said Nadia BBC.

That day, she says, three thousand men, the elderly, children and disabled were massacred by EI.

Some managed to escape and take refuge in the Sinjar mountain, but the village was far from the mountain and EI surrounded the exits.

"They surrounded the village for a few days but did not enter. We try to get help by phone and other means. We knew that something horrible would happen. But help did not come, not Iraq or elsewhere."

After a few days, the EI trapped residents in the village school and there remained men, women and children.

"They gave us two options: conversion to Islam or death," said Nadia.
Murders, kidnappings and rapes
Soon they separated the men, about 700. They took everyone out of the village and began to Balea them. Nine Nadia brothers were among them.

Six of Nadia's brothers died - three were wounded but escaped.

"The school window we could see the men being shot. I did not see my brothers being met. To this day I could not go back to the village or to the place of slaughter. There is no news of any of the men."

According to Nadia, girls above nine years and children above four years were taken to training camps. "Then they took some 80 women, all over 45 years, including my mother. Some said they had been killed, others not. But when part of Sinjar was released was found a mass grave with their bodies."

In all, 18 members of Nadia's family died or are missing.

Nadia was taken with other women. There were about 150 girls in the group, including three nieces her.

They were divided into groups and taken by bus to Mosul.

"On the way they touched our breasts and rubbed their beards in our faces. We did not know if they were going to kill us or what they would do with us. We realized that nothing good would happen because they had already killed men and older women, and kidnapped boys . "

Upon arriving at the headquarters of EI in Mosul, they found many young women and girls, all Yazidis. They had been abducted in other villages the day before.

Every hour, the EI men came and chose some girls. They were taken, raped and returned.

Nadia realized that this would also be his fate.
unsympathetic
The next day, a group of EI militants arrived. Each chose a girl, some 10 to 12 years.

"The girls resisted, but were forced to go. Younger clung to older. One of them had the same age as my nieces, cried and clung to me."

When his turn came, Nadia was selected by a fat man who took her to another floor. Another militant went and convinced him to take her - but that did not change things.

"The thin man took me to his house, he had bodyguards. Raped me, and it was very painful. At that moment I realized I would have suffered the same, no matter who."

None of the men showed mercy. All raped women violently. "The things they did were horrible. We never imagined that such terrible things happen to us."

The extreme could keep women for over a week, however they were often sold after a day or up to one hour.

Some women of Nadia's brothers were pregnant when they were captured and gave birth in prison.

They were also taken to the Islamic court of EI and forced to convert.

Nadia spent three months with the man who took her. During this time he managed to talk to some kidnappers.

"I asked why they did that to us, why they killed our men, who raped us violently. They told me that 'the Yazidis are unfaithful, they are not a people of the Scriptures, are a collection of war and deserve to be destroyed.'"

Although most of these militants were married, the families - including women - seemed to accept what they were doing, said Nadia.

On one occasion, she asked permission to make a phone call because I wanted to hear a familiar voice.

They said they could call your nephew for a minute, but with one condition: "That first I licked the toe a man was covered with honey."

Many young people in the same situation have committed suicide, said Nadia, but that was not an option for her.

"I think we must all accept what God has given us, no matter whether it is poor or has suffered an injustice, we should all support."

She either questioned his faith. "God was in my mind every minute, even when she was raped."

Nadia tried to run first through a window, but a guard immediately captured and placed in a room.

Under the rules of EI, said Nadia, a woman becomes the spoils of war if captured trying to escape. They put her in a cell where he was raped by all the men of the complex.

"I was raped in a group. They call it sexual jihad."
flight
After this episode, Nadia did not think to run again, but the last man who lived in Mosul decided to sell it and was arranging clothes for her.

When ordered her to take a shower and prepare for the sale, she took the opportunity to escape.

"I knocked on the door of a house where he lived a Muslim family with no connection to the EI and asked for help. He said my brother would give what they wanted in return."

Luckily the family did not support the EI and supported fully.

"They gave me a black veil, a Muslim identity card and took me to the border."

Now free, Nadia Murad became an activist who travels the world campaigning to draw attention to the tragedy of the Yazidis.

She has visited the USA, UK, Europe and Arab countries, said the UN, met parliamentarians and world leaders.

The answer, however, has been slower.

"Everyone knows what the Islamic State. They listen to me carefully but do not promise anything," he says. "They say they will review the case and see what you can do, but so far nothing has happened," he said.

After a year and a half of the attack, there are still women and girls abducted.

The region has not been fully released. In regions where the EI was expelled, there are mass graves as yet undiscovered.

Nadia hopes to return to his village to see what's left and to know the fate of the missing.

"I swear by God that we are all very tired. It's been a year and a half since this happened to us. We feel we are abandoned by the world," said Nadia, to tears.

"They killed my mother. My father died a long time ago. My older brother was like a father to me, but was also killed. I ask the world to do something for us."
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