Leaders of the Yazidi community in northern Iraq say thousands of women and girls held by militants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State are suffering rape, abuse and sexual slavery at the hands of their captors. A few have been lucky enough to escape, and have recounted their harrowing stories.

Eighteen-year-old Payam, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was held for one month before she was rescued. She was taken in August when Islamic State fighters overran her village.

"They locked us up with other girls and didn't allow us to eat or drink," Payam said. "After a few days being locked up, we found girls were taken away every day. One day, they gathered us into a room. They looked at us one by one to decide which ones to take away."

Payam now lives in a refugee camp in Duhok in northern Iraq with her family. She said she did not know where the girls were being taken to.

Eisha, another young woman whose name has been altered, had a similar experience.

Eisha was pregnant when her husband was killed by militants and she was taken prisoner. She says she thought of suicide many times, but kept going because she wanted her child to have a future.

She was sold at a slave market in Mosul for about 13 US dollars.

"A lot of people came to buy," Eisha said. "The price was around 15,000 dinar. Most buyers were from Mosul and Anbar. Some were from other majority-Sunni areas. A lot of women were sold to men who were older than them."

Reports from human rights groups, including Amnesty International, say that Yazidi women are regularly sold to fighters as sex slaves, and are sometimes forced to marry their abusers.

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