If you are looking for something a little more positive and uplifting today, here it is. Meet Israa, a 20 year old women who’s spent the last several years in sex slavery at the hands of ISIS.

"The first time they made me wear it, I felt like I was being suffocated."

This #Yazidi woman was sold as a sex slave and burned her veil as she left Baghouz, the last ISIS stronghold in Syria. pic.twitter.com/ldM0Tb2eno

— Belutsch🏳 (@Belutschtwts) March 8, 2019

Israa was recently liberated in Baghouz, a former ISIS stronghold. While in captivity, she was forced to wear a full burka, something she didn’t do before her ordeal. After being rescued, she was driven out of the area and turned herself over the Kurds (watch the short video for her full escape story). Kurdish soldiers then helped her pull the burka off and she burned it in celebration in what must of been an incredible moment of freedom.

“They said don’t go outside like this, don’t appear around men like this, but every time they’d leave me alone I’d take it off,” Israa said. “Now I’ve arrived and I’ve taken it off and burned and finished with it, thank God.”

“I wish I could bring Daesh and burn them like I burned my cloths.”

Right on.

It’s stories like this that remind us there are real problems in this world outside of the menial things we so often obsess over (did you hear that Trump signed a Bible!). I can’t say enough about how incredibly brave this woman is. If someone chooses to wear a burka, niqab, or hijab via their own religious conviction, that’s fine, but forcing women to where them, as so often happens in even moderate Islamic societies, is simply wrong. Recently, several women made headlines by removing their head coverings publicly in Iran, which led to them being thrown in jail for their protests.

Meanwhile, the BBC decided this was a good idea.

@BBCNews has chosen Niqab as its"Wardrobe of Rebellion" on #InternationalWomensDay2019 for us, over countless women of Muslim heritage defying this regressive attire while waving hijab flags to protest compulsory veiling.#TheSoftBigotryOfLowExpectationshttps://t.co/eyKwYfVVPE

— khadijakhan #StayAtHome (@KhadijaKhan__) March 8, 2019

These women are out there risking their lives to fight for their freedom but the BBC thinks the niqab is worthy of being celebrated as the “Wardrobe of Rebellion.” Maybe go with a different choice next time, specifically one that isn’t a product of oppression for so many. Just a thought.

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