1
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[This talk contains mature content.]

2
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When I was 14,

3
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
my parents intended to marry me off
to a man of their choosing.

4
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I refused.

5
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That choice to defy my family

6
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
shaped everything in my life

7
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and set me on the path
to become who I am today.

8
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But it was very painful at times,
and continues to be so.

9
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
My parents were raised in traditional,
uneducated Moroccan families

10
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where a girl's main value
is measured by her virginity.

11
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They emigrated to Belgium,

12
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and I was born, raised and educated there.

13
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I did not accept their view of the world.

14
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When I said no to them,

15
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I paid for it dearly in terms of
physical and emotional abuse,

16
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but eventually I escaped from their home

17
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and became a federal police detective

18
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who could help protect
the rights of others.

19
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
My specialty was investigating
cases in counterterrorism,

20
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
child abduction and homicide.

21
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I loved that work,

22
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it was extremely fulfilling.

23
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
With my Muslim background,
Arabic language skills,

24
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and an interest
in working internationally,

25
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I decided to seek new challenges.

26
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
After decades of being a police officer,

27
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I was recruited to become an investigator
of sexual and gender-based violence

28
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as a member of the Justice Rapid Response
and UN Women roster.

29
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Justice Rapid Response is an organization

30
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for criminal investigations
of mass atrocities.

31
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They run on both public
and private funding

32
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and provide evidence and reports
to more than 100 participating countries.

33
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Many countries in conflict
are often unable to provide a just process

34
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to those who have been
victims of mass violence.

35
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To respond to that,

36
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Justice Rapid Response was created
in partnership with UN Women.

37
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Together,

38
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Justice Rapid Response and UN Women
recruited, trained and certified

39
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
more than 250 professionals

40
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with a specific expertise
in sexual and gender-based violence,

41
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like me.

42
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Our investigations are carried out
under international law

43
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and our findings eventually
become evidence

44
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to prosecute war criminals.

45
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This mechanism provides hope to victims

46
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that justice and accountability
may someday be found

47
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the wake of war and conflict.

48
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Let me tell you about the most
challenging work I have ever done.

49
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This was in Iraq.

50
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Since the rise of the Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS,

51
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this group has systematically
attacked and tortured

52
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
many religious minorities and ethnicities,

53
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
such as the Christians,

54
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Shi'a Turkmen, Shi'a Muslims,
Shi'a Shabaks, and the Yazidis.

55
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The persecution of the Yazidis
has been especially horrific.

56
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
On the 3rd and 15th of August 2014,

57
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
ISIS attacked approximately
20 villages and towns

58
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in Sinjar, Iraq.

59
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They executed all the males
over the age of 14,

60
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
including the elderly and disabled.

61
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They divided up the women and girls,

62
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
raped them,

63
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and sold them into sexual
and domestic slavery.

64
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
One month later,

65
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a UN Human Rights Council resolution
led to the fact-finding mission on Iraq

66
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to investigate and document
alleged violations and abuses

67
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
committed by ISIS and associated groups.

68
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I was sent to investigate the atrocities
committed against the Yazidis,

69
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with a focus on sexual
and gender-based crimes.

70
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking
ethno-religious community

71
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
based in northern Iraq.

72
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Their belief system incorporates
aspects of Judaism, Christianity,

73
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Islam, and Zoroastrianism.

74
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
For hundreds of years,

75
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Muslims and Christians
who do not understand their beliefs

76
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have condemned the Yazidis
as devil-worshippers.

77
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
ISIS thought of them in this way
and vowed to destroy them.

78
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
OK, let's do an experimental thought here.

79
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I want you to think about
your worst sexual experience

80
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and recall it in detail.

81
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now turn to the person to your right

82
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and describe that experience.

83
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

84
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I know it's difficult, eh?

85
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

86
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But of course I wouldn't
expect you to do that.

87
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You would all be uncomfortable
and embarrassed.

88
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so imagine an 11-year old girl
in the Middle East

89
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who was not educated about sexuality,

90
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who was taken from her comfort zone,

91
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
her family,

92
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who witnessed the execution
of her father and brothers,

93
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
having to describe in detail
the rape that she faced in a culture

94
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where talking about sexuality is taboo.

95
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Her only way of recovering her honor

96
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is to hide the crime,

97
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
believe she was married against her will,

98
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or deny the events out of shame
and fear of being rejected.