WEBVTT

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[This talk contains mature content.]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
When I was 14,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
my parents intended to marry me off
to a man of their choosing.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I refused.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
That choice to defy my family

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
shaped everything in my life

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and set me on the path
to become who I am today.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But it was very painful at times,
and continues to be so.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
My parents were raised in traditional,
uneducated Moroccan families

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
where a girl's main value
is measured by her virginity.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
They emigrated to Belgium,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and I was born, raised and educated there.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I did not accept their view of the world.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
When I said no to them,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I paid for it dearly in terms of
physical and emotional abuse,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but eventually I escaped from their home

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and became a federal police detective

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who could help protect
the rights of others.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
My specialty was investigating
cases in counterterrorism,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
child abduction and homicide.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I loved that work,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and it was extremely fulfilling.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
With my Muslim background,
Arabic language skills,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and an interest
in working internationally,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I decided to seek new challenges.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
After decades of being a police officer,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I was recruited to become an investigator
of sexual and gender-based violence

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
as a member of the Justice Rapid Response
and UN Women roster.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Justice Rapid Response is an organization

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
for criminal investigations
of mass atrocities.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
They run on both public
and private funding

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and provide evidence and reports
to more than 100 participating countries.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Many countries in conflict
are often unable to provide a just process

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to those who have been
victims of mass violence.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
To respond to that,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Justice Rapid Response was created
in partnership with UN Women.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Together,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Justice Rapid Response and UN Women
recruited, trained and certified

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
more than 250 professionals

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
with a specific expertise
in sexual and gender-based violence,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
like me.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Our investigations are carried out
under international law

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and our findings eventually
become evidence

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to prosecute war criminals.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
This mechanism provides hope to victims

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that justice and accountability
may someday be found

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in the wake of war and conflict.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Let me tell you about the most
challenging work I have ever done.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
This was in Iraq.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Since the rise of the Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
this group has systematically
attacked and tortured

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
many religious minorities and ethnicities,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
such as the Christians,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the Shi'a Turkmen, Shi'a Muslims,
Shi'a Shabaks, and the Yazidis.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The persecution of the Yazidis
has been especially horrific.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
On the 3rd and 15th of August 2014,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
ISIS attacked approximately
20 villages and towns

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in Sinjar, Iraq.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
They executed all the males
over the age of 14,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
including the elderly and disabled.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
They divided up the women and girls,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
raped them,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and sold them into sexual
and domestic slavery.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
One month later,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
a UN Human Rights Council resolution
led to the fact-finding mission on Iraq

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to investigate and document
alleged violations and abuses

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
committed by ISIS and associated groups.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I was sent to investigate the atrocities
committed against the Yazidis,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
with a focus on sexual
and gender-based crimes.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking
ethno-religious community

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
based in northern Iraq.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Their belief system incorporates
aspects of Judaism, Christianity,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Islam, and Zoroastrianism.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
For hundreds of years,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Muslims and Christians
who do not understand their beliefs

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
have condemned the Yazidis
as devil-worshippers.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
ISIS thought of them in this way
and vowed to destroy them.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
OK, let's do an experimental thought here.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I want you to think about
your worst sexual experience

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and recall it in detail.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Now turn to the person to your right

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and describe that experience.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
(Laughter)

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I know it's difficult, eh?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
(Laughter)

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But of course I wouldn't
expect you to do that.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You would all be uncomfortable
and embarrassed.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And so imagine an 11-year old girl
in the Middle East

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who was not educated about sexuality,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who was taken from her comfort zone,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
her family,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who witnessed the execution
of her father and brothers,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
having to describe in detail
the rape that she faced in a culture

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
where talking about sexuality is taboo.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Her only way of recovering her honor

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
is to hide the crime,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
believe she was married against her will,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
or deny the events out of shame
and fear of being rejected.