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A woman who escaped Isis sex slavery has become the first survivor of captivity with the group to be appointed a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.
Nadia Murad , who has also been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, will act as an ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking for the UN’s Drugs and Crime body.
The 23-year-old, who is Yazidi, was captured by the jihadi group in 2014 and subjected to sexual and physical abuse after being sold as a slave several times but eventually managed to flee.
Since Isis declared their so-called “Caliphate” in August 2014 , they have presided over the slaughter and enslavement of the minority Yazidi people, who they regard as “devil worshippers”.
The monotheistic sect were exiled from their ancestral homeland, Sinjar in northern Iraq after the militants vowed to “purify” the country of non-Islamic people.
In addition to the thousands of women and girls who were enslaved, thousands of men and boys were slaughtered including Ms Murad’s six brothers .
In a statement, the UN said her ambassadorship would “focus on advocacy initiatives and raise awareness around the plight of the countless victims of trafficking.
“The appointment marks the first time a survivor of atrocities is bestowed with this distinction," a statement said.
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount SinjarShow all 15 1 /15Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community settle at a camp at Derike, Syria. In the camps here, Iraqi refugees have new heroes: Syrian Kurdish fighters who battled militants to carve an escape route to tens of thousands trapped on a mountaintop
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A pilot based at RAF Marham entering a Tornado GR4 prior to taking off for the reconnaissance mission over Iraq. Several RAF Tornado jets set off from RAF Marham in Norfolk this afternoon to travel to a "pre-position", from where they will fly to northern Iraq to provide improved surveillance of the situation on the ground. The jets, fitted with Litening III targeting and surveillance pods, will be able to fly over the crisis area to provide intelligence and help with the delivery of humanitarian aid
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A British Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 aircraft equipped with the Litening III pod from RAF Marham, eastern England, on their arrival at RAF Akrotiri Cyprus for their reconnaissance mission over Iraq
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Aid inside a Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules C130 J aircraft before being airdropped to civilians in Iraq
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules C130 J military transport plane at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Britain made a third round of airdrops of supplies to aid refugees stranded on a mountain in northern Iraq, officials said, as Tornado fighters arrived at an RAF base in Cyprus preparing to provide surveillance support for the humanitarian effort
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 aircraft, flown in from Britain, stand on the tarmac at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A displaced man helps a woman, both from the minority Yazidi sect fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, as they make their way towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Iraqis including Turkmen, Shabaks, Kurds, Yezidis and Christians, fleeing from assaults of army groups led by Isis, take shelter at Bahirka Camp in Arbil
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community look for clothes to wear among items provided by a charity organization at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Syrian Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take a sick Iraqi Yazidi woman to the clinic at Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria
Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Sick displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community wait for treatment at a clinic at Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria
In December 2015, Ms Murad briefed the UN Security Council’s first ever session on human trafficking .
She described being rounded up by Isis, also known as Islamic State, and witnessing the militants shooting men and boys in cold blood.
In her statement, she said: “The Islamic State (sic) didn’t come to kill the women and girls, but to use us as spoils of war, as objects to be sold with little or to be gifted for free.
“Their cruelty was not merely opportunistic. The Isis soldiers came with a pre-established policy to commit such crimes.
Thousands of Yazidi women were taken captive when Isis seized control of Sinjar, Iraq, in August 2014 (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images) (AFP/Getty) “Isis had one intention, the destroy the Yazidi identity by force, rape, recruitment of children, and destruction of holy sites they captured, especially against the Yazidi woman where the used rape as a mean of destruction for Yazidi women and girls and ensuring these women will never return to a normal life.”
She said she and 150 other girls were taken to Mosul from her village in Kocho, where there were already over one thousand Yazidi women and girls were to be offered as “gifts” to Isis fighters.
She was finally able to escape after three months of imprisonment and fled to Germany where she currently lives.
Commenting on her appointment, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said: “Nadia survived horrific crimes.
“I cried when I heard her story. But I didn't only cry out of sadness.
“I was also moved to tears because Nadia has so much strength, courage and dignity.
“She rightly calls for a world where all children live in peace."
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