Dohuk , Iraq ( CNN ) '' Aria '' is only 15 , smiling as she greets and welcomes us into her family 's tent inside the Khanke refugee camp in northwest Iraq . Her parents sit nearby . Their faces , with their weathered skin and deep lines , speak of a difficult life that has just become much harder . Blankets and mattresses are stacked up on one side , except for a few that we sit on while a small fan gently whirls , creating a slight breeze in the stifling heat . The refugee camp , outside the town of Duhok , was created just last month by the UNHCR for the massive influx of Yazidis fleeing their homes in Sinjar from the ISIS onslaught . I ask Aria if she will tell us her story . She nods and then looks at her elderly parents and asks them to leave the tent . She does n't want them to hear what she 's about to say . Six weeks ago the family piled into their neighbor 's car in the early morning hours . They heard ISIS was coming and they were desperately trying to escape from their home in Sinjar . They got on the road , but a convoy of vehicles with black flags flying drove past them . They thought they had got away until minutes later when at least seven ISIS vehicles appeared on the road , surrounding them . `` They forced us out of the car , '' said Aria . `` The girls and women were separated from the men including my 19-year-old brother . But they only took the girls forcing us into a minivan . '' Horrific conditions . From Sinjar , Aria , her 14-year-old sister-in-law and a handful of other girls were driven 120 kilometers to the ISIS stronghold of Mosul -- Iraq 's second largest city captured by militants back in June . They were taken to a three-story house where they were locked with dozens of other teenage girls who 'd been captured . `` In Mosul they tried to make us change our faith and religion , '' she said . `` They said to us , 'Read our Quran . ' A couple of the girls said , 'We never went to school - we ca n't read . ' I could n't understand the Quran . '' For more than three weeks , Aria stayed here under horrific conditions . During this time , a sheik came and collected 20 girls including her 14-year-old sister-in-law . `` He forced himself on her . I was so scared . A lot of my friends were raped . It 's hard to talk about it . '' Sexual abuse is a taboo subject in this culture and to admit being a victim is unheard of . I gently ask Aria if she was also raped . She looks straight ahead , staring at the wall and shakes her head . It 's clear the teenager has been visibly traumatized . `` I see their faces all the time , '' Aria said . `` I have nightmares . I ca n't stop thinking about how they forced themselves onto the girls . I have seen and been through too much . '' Shame . Tanya Kareem , UNHCR Duhok director , explains how difficult it is for girls like Aria to talk about what has happened to them . `` Even if these girls and women are released I think it 's impossible for them to talk about their painful ordeal . They are traumatized . And they 're from a society , a culture that does not accept what this means for the family . It brings so much shame so they just do n't talk about it . '' Aria and her friend were then taken to Fallujah by two ISIS militants she calls Abu Hassan and Abu Jaffar . `` They were really filthy . They had long beards ; they were really tall and big . Even men would be scared of them . They forced us to marry them , threatening to hurt us if we did n't . They gave us a phone to call our families to tell them we 'd converted . '' Using this phone , they secretly called her friend 's uncle who knew people in Fallujah who were prepared to help . When the militants left the house , the girls - dressed in niqabs -- escaped . `` My friend and I thought about killing ourselves . But we decided to ask my friend 's uncle for help to escape . He had friends living in Fallujah , but they could n't come to the house and rescue us , so we broke the door , put on veils , and walked for about an hour and met at a place where my friend 's uncle 's friends were waiting for us . They took us to a safe house in Fallujah . '' But when she was reunited with her family in this refugee camp , she suffered once again . `` I did n't know that my brother had been killed . That made me very sad . I only had one brother . He was only married for six months . I was sad to hear this . They killed him and other men when they took me . They shot him in the head . My mother slept next to my brother 's body all night . '' Aria does n't want to stay at the camp . Everyone knows what happened to her and she says they gossip and look at her whenever she goes outside . But her shame is dwarfed by her guilt after learning what happened to the other girls once ISIS discovered they 'd fled . `` They raped them because we escaped . That was the punishment . They tightened security so no girls can escape anymore . `` I have to live with that . ''
Year - old Aria 's hometown in Iraq was attacked by ISIL . Aria was captured and held with other women . Aria managed to escape , but learns her father was killed by ISIS . Sexual violence is a tool of war for women , but a taboo .