[This talk contains mature content.]
When I was 14,
my parents intended to marry me off to a man of their choosing.
I refused.
That choice to defy my family
shaped everything in my life
and set me on the path to become who I am today.
But it was very painful at times, and continues to be so.
My parents were raised in traditional, uneducated Moroccan families
where a girl's main value is measured by her virginity.
They emigrated to Belgium,
and I was born, raised and educated there.
I did not accept their view of the world.
When I said no to them,
I paid for it dearly in terms of physical and emotional abuse,
but eventually I escaped from their home
and became a federal police detective
who could help protect the rights of others.
My specialty was investigating cases in counterterrorism,
child abduction and homicide.
I loved that work,
and it was extremely fulfilling.
With my Muslim background, Arabic language skills,
and an interest in working internationally,
I decided to seek new challenges.
After decades of being a police officer,
I was recruited to become an investigator of sexual and gender-based violence
as a member of the Justice Rapid Response and UN Women roster.
Justice Rapid Response is an organization
for criminal investigations of mass atrocities.
They run on both public and private funding
and provide evidence and reports to more than 100 participating countries.
Many countries in conflict are often unable to provide a just process
to those who have been victims of mass violence.
To respond to that,
Justice Rapid Response was created in partnership with UN Women.
Together,
Justice Rapid Response and UN Women recruited, trained and certified
more than 250 professionals
with a specific expertise in sexual and gender-based violence,
like me.
Our investigations are carried out under international law
and our findings eventually become evidence
to prosecute war criminals.
This mechanism provides hope to victims
that justice and accountability may someday be found
in the wake of war and conflict.
Let me tell you about the most challenging work I have ever done.
This was in Iraq.
Since the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS,
this group has systematically attacked and tortured
many religious minorities and ethnicities,
such as the Christians,
the Shi'a Turkmen, Shi'a Muslims, Shi'a Shabaks, and the Yazidis.
The persecution of the Yazidis has been especially horrific.
On the 3rd and 15th of August 2014,
ISIS attacked approximately 20 villages and towns
in Sinjar, Iraq.
They executed all the males over the age of 14,
including the elderly and disabled.
They divided up the women and girls,
raped them,
and sold them into sexual and domestic slavery.
One month later,
a UN Human Rights Council resolution led to the fact-finding mission on Iraq
to investigate and document alleged violations and abuses
committed by ISIS and associated groups.
I was sent to investigate the atrocities committed against the Yazidis,
with a focus on sexual and gender-based crimes.
The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking ethno-religious community
based in northern Iraq.
Their belief system incorporates aspects of Judaism, Christianity,
Islam, and Zoroastrianism.
For hundreds of years,
Muslims and Christians who do not understand their beliefs
have condemned the Yazidis as devil-worshippers.
ISIS thought of them in this way and vowed to destroy them.
OK, let's do an experimental thought here.
I want you to think about your worst sexual experience
and recall it in detail.
Now turn to the person to your right
and describe that experience.
(Laughter)
I know it's difficult, eh?
(Laughter)
But of course I wouldn't expect you to do that.
You would all be uncomfortable and embarrassed.
And so imagine an 11-year old girl in the Middle East
who was not educated about sexuality,
who was taken from her comfort zone,
her family,
who witnessed the execution of her father and brothers,
having to describe in detail the rape that she faced in a culture
where talking about sexuality is taboo.
Her only way of recovering her honor
is to hide the crime,
believe she was married against her will,
or deny the events out of shame and fear of being rejected.