Iraqi survivor of ISIS sex slavery now UN goodwill ambassador

Iraqi Nadia Murad Basee Taha broke loose of the ISIS sex trafficking system, but she isn't quite ready to leave the past behind.

The 23-year-old has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime . Murad will focus on "advocacy initiatives and raise awareness around the plight of millions of victims of trafficking, especially refugees, women, and girls".

Here's Murad's story.

Murad's abduction was part of an ISIS raid on her northern-Iraqi village, known for housing Yazidis- an ethno-religious group native to the Mesopotamian region. ISIS classifies the group as "infidels" and seeks to ethnically cleanse them. Men - including six of her brothers - were slaughtered, while women and children were taken as slaves. The extremist group also destroyed their temples.

"They took women as merchandise to be exchanged," she said. "Yazidi families and children who were exchanged as gifts".

“Some [females] are sold for weapons, or for just $10, or 10 cigarettes," explained activist Khider Domle, according to Breitbart .

Murad called on the international community to recognize ISIS's attacks on the Yazidi community as acts of genocide. Euro News reports that the militant group murdered 5,000 Yazidi men on the month Murad was abducted.

Murad was regularly beaten and gang-raped. "They proceeded to commit their crime until I fainted," she said

She appealed to the UN Security Council to put an end to the terrorist group's crimes and rescue the 3,400+ Yazidi women and children who are still held captive.

Murad's first failed attempt to escape left her greatly discouraged. She was raped by all the men in the compound- a punishment that falls on every women who tries to break free.

But when the last man she was "sold to" left the house, she seized the opportunity. She called on an anti-ISIS Muslim family for help and they heeded her call, giving her a black abaya and an Islamic ID and escorting her to the border. She was then transported to a refugee camp.

Shortly after, Murad was chosen  for a program that took around 1,000 refugees to Germany. She currently lives there with her sister.

"Being in the hands of Daesh, we felt like we have already died," Murad told BBC . "Most people die once in their lifetime, but we were dying every hour."

Since her escape, Murad has been advocating for the victims of ISIS and worked to battle human trafficking. Earlier this year, she was nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. She has also been listed among Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People of 2016".

She is represented by international lawyer Amal Clooney. Last week, Clooney condemned the UN for failing to tackle ISIS's crimes against the Yazidi community.

“I am ashamed as a supporter of the United Nations that states are failing to prevent or even punish genocide because they find that their own interests get in the way,” said Clooney, according to The Independent .

"I am ashamed as a lawyer that there is no justice being done and barely a complaint being made about it. I am ashamed as a woman that girls like Nadia could have their bodies sold and used as battlefields."