WATCH: Runaway IS wives share stories of hardship in Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A group of women who were married to Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria escaped and shared stories of their hardships.

The women, who now live in Ain Issa in northern Syria, spoke of the unfair treatment under IS-rule.

Khadija, a runaway IS wife, said she was urged to marry a disabled member who also had a mistress.

“Two women asked me: ‘Khadija, why don’t you get married?’” She said. “‘There is a disabled man who wants to get married. Wouldn’t you like to get married?’ I agreed.”

Khadija pointed out that IS members had relationships with multiple women while married, and would “live with them in turns.”

“Besides their wives, men have another woman who they can sell or give to another man,” she stated.

“But, this can only be done with his consent, for the woman is considered his property,” Khadija added.

Khadija explained that if a woman’s husband was killed, she was encouraged to “marry the second one with the consent of relatives and before witnesses.”

Another runaway wife, 20-year-old Nur Al-Huda, said she met her husband in Tripoli, Libya before they moved to Syria.

“My husband was introduced to the ideas of jihad there and explained it was necessary to [join IS],” Huda said.

She mentioned her husband persuaded her and reassured her “everything was okay” with the militant group.

Huda also addressed the market where IS extremists sold women to one another.

“A lot of attention was paid to girls to sell them for $15,000,” she said. “Virgins were sold for $30,000.”