A teenager who was kidnapped, beaten and repeatedly raped by Islamic State fighters in Iraq has spoken out about her ordeal. Nihad Narakat Shamo Alawsi was captured by IS alongside her family when she was 15, after they took control of Sinjar in 2014.
Alawsi, a member of the Yazidi religious minority, was impregnated after being raped by one IS fighter, who she was sold to as a sex slave for $800 (£540, €703) . She tried unsuccessfully to abort the pregnancy a number of times.
I felt as if there was a criminal from Daesh inside my womb. I was taken to hospital and stayed there for four days due to the pills and other steps Id taken to try and abort it, said Alawsi, now 17-years-old.
She eventually gave birth to a boy. The teenager said, They brought the baby to me, and he looked up at me. I felt he was part of me and I loved him.
She eventually escaped the country, and currently resides in Iraqi Kurdistan with her family, but had to leave her son behind when she left Iraq. Alawsi now works for AMAR International Charitable Foundation, and the Women Against Radicalisation Network, whom she spoke to about her ordeal.
Inshallah, this year I want to go back to school and finish my studies. My thoughts and fears remains with my missing siblings and my three cousins. I feel the same about all the Yazidi people under the control of Daesh. We are all one.
The Yazidis have been targeted by Islamic State militants in Iraq, with the UN labelling the killings as a genocide. At least 30 mass graves of Yazidi people have been found in the country, with over 3,200 women and children thought to still be held by the group.
