Daesh Sex Slavery Survivor to Give Voice to Trafficking Victims – Ban Ki-moon

A woman who had fallen victim to Daesh sexual slavery was appointed UN goodwill ambassador, giving a voice to trafficking victims, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The appointment ceremony took place at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday.

"I am honoured to name Nadia Murad Basee Taha as Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Nadia is a fierce and tireless advocate for the Yazidi people and victims of human trafficking everywhere," the Secretary General said as quoted on the UN website on Friday.

Ban Ki-moon, who presented the Yazidi woman with the distinction, said she "was subjected to unspeakable abuse and human rights violations at the hands of ISIL [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant]. Nadia has shown exceptional courage in speaking out. She gives a much-needed voice to trafficking victims who continue to suffer, and who demand justice."

Murad, a member of the Yazidi ethnic Kurdish minority group, was captured by the IS near Iraq’s northern town of Sinjar, in her home village, in August 2014. After three months of sexual slavery she managed to escape.

The Daesh terrorist group, outlawed in the United States, Russia and numerous other countries throughout the world, has ceased vast areas in Iraq and Syria, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. The radical Sunni group has become notorious for its human rights atrocities, such as public beheadings of foreign journalists and the stoning of women.

Daesh and its affiliates have claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks carried out in various parts of the world, including the July 14 Nice attack and the March 22 Brussels attacks.