Farida Khalaf (born circa 1995) is the pen name of a

Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...

woman who was abducted by

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

in 2014 and sold into slavery. She escaped to a refugee camp, and in 2016 published a book about her experience, ''The Girl Who Escaped ISIS''. Khalaf grew up in the village of Kocho in the mountains of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. In 2014, when she was 18, ISIS invaded her village. The jihadists murdered all the men and boys of age in the village, including her father and eldest brother. Single women and girls, including Farida and her friend Evin, were forced onto a bus at gunpoint and brought to

Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish languages, Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. T ...

, where they were sold into sexual slavery. She was once beaten so badly by her captors that she lost sight in one eye, and could not walk for two months. The young women managed to escape to a refugee camp in northern Iraq, and Khalaf was reunited with surviving family members. Among members of her community, however, she was seen as having brought dishonor to her family by having been raped. She subsequently moved to Germany, where she hopes to become a mathematics teacher. Her book, ''The Girl Who Escaped ISIS'', was published in 2016 to positive reviews. It was co-authored by German writer Andrea C. Hoffmann, and translated to English by

Jamie Bulloch Jamie Bulloch (born 6 September 1969) is a British historian and translator of German literature. Life and work Jamie was born at East Dulwich Hospital in 1969. He grew up in Tooting, south-west London, attending first Rosemead School, then Whi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khala, Farida 1995 births Living people 21st-century Iraqi women writers Iraqi Yazidis Year of birth uncertain Yazidi women

See also

References