Nadia Murad was just named in the “pioneer” section of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. She is truly a pioneer. Sadly, she is traversing a path no person ever should.
In the video above you can see and hear from Nadia about the tragic situation she lived through at the hands of ISIS. She escaped but ISIS's brutality continues daily for a large percentage of the Yazidi people. Yazidi girls and women are taken and used “as merchandise to be exchanged” as Nadia Murad bravely told the world here. Yazidi people are forced to choose between their religion and culture or their lives, and even choosing to convert or submit is no guarantee that they will stay alive.
ISIS is targeting the Yazidi people and committing genocide and mass violations of human rights in the Sinjar Mountains of Iraq. Yadizi people were trapped in their home, mountainous region and fight to survive with little to no help from the outside.
At 19 years old Nadia’s family was murdered by ISIS. She was kidnapped and raped by members of ISIS for months before escaping and speaking out against the atrocities committed in the Sinjar Mountains.
"I always thought this is unjust and unfair, and something has to change," said Nadia in the Global Citizen interview above.
Through the horror she experienced she persisted and rose above, not allowing her captors to destroy her spirit and life.
“Nadia Murad stands in a long, invisible history of fierce, indomitable women who rise from the scorched earth of rape during war to break the odious silence and demand justice and freedom for their sisters,” wrote Eve Ensler, feminist and author of The Vagina Monologues, about Nadia in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People.
Since the genocide began, Nadia has been fighting. At first to survive, then simply for people to listen and now for people to take action.
Today, she travels the world telling her story -- one that nearly 3,000 Yazidi girls currently suffer right now.
We can celebrate that Nadia is in TIME 100’s top list of influencers but global citizens must also take action to stand with Nadia and end the ongoing genocide against the Yazidi people.