Former Captive Reveals How ISIS Uses Rape To Terrorize Women

A young Yazidi woman went before the U.N. Security Council on Saturday, detailing the horrifying experiences she suffered at the hands of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and begging the United Nations to wipe the group out. Via a translator, 21-year-old Nadia Murad Basee Taha told the international community what had happened to her. In August of 2014, ISIS attacked her quiet town in what she called “a true genocide.” Her family and neighbors were taken to a nearby school, where women and the children were separated from the men. “I saw them from the second floor of the school. They took the men and they killed them. Six of my brothers were killed.” The women and children were taken by bus to another region, where they were commodified and parceled out as gifts to ISIS men. Taha recounted being claimed by a man who humiliated and tortured her. When she tried to escape, she was caught, beaten, and was put in a room with guards who “proceeded to commit their crime.” After three months, she managed to escape for good. She fled to Germany, where she was given medical care and assistance. Yazidis, like Taha, are a religious and ethnic minority centered in northern Iraq. ISIS considers them heretics and has specifically targeted the community. Thousands have died at the hands of ISIS and more have been threatened or taken captive. When it comes to women and girls, ISIS claims that the rape of non-Muslim women is not only permissible, but encouraged. Yazidi women are a frequent target. “These crimes were not committed in an arbitrary fashion,” Taha told the United Nations. “It was an organized, planned policy. The Islamic State came with one sole aim, to destroy the Yazidi identity.” She called the attacks on her community "genocide," and called for the U.N. to help the thousands of women and children still in the hands of the Islamic State group. “I implore you, get rid of Daesh completely. I went though this terrible suffering because of them...all those who commit these crimes of trafficking and genocide need to be brought to justice so women and children can live in peace.”