Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence.
Hannah was 16 when Boko Haram militants abducted her in north-eastern Nigeria, turning an ordinary day into months of captivity, forced religious conversion and sexual abuse.
The teenager, who has been identified by her first name, was taken to a militant camp in a forest stronghold after fighters attacked her community. She later described being beaten and threatened with death when she resisted demands that she abandon her Christian faith.
At one point, Hannah said, the militants tied a rope around her neck and dragged her along the ground. She was also forced to watch executions and was warned that she would be killed if she continued to refuse their orders.
Like many of the women and girls seized by Boko Haram, she was treated as property. Survivors have described being forced into marriages with fighters, raped and made to carry out domestic work, while others were compelled to take part in attacks.
Hannah said she was trained to handle a weapon and taken on raids against Nigerian forces. Ammunition was strapped to her back and she was instructed to lie down whenever fighting broke out.
Her account is consistent with findings by Human Rights Watch, which documented cases of women and girls abducted by Boko Haram being subjected to forced marriage, rape, beatings, religious conversion and military training.
The group has also used abducted women and girls in suicide attacks. Amnesty International said in a 2024 report that Boko Haram had deployed girls as suicide bombers on a large scale, while survivors told the organisation that men they were forced to marry had raped them.
Hannah eventually escaped captivity, but the ordeal left her struggling with fear and painful memories. Human Rights Watch said many former captives continued to show signs of severe psychological distress after returning to their families and communities.
The abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok in April 2014 drew worldwide attention to Boko Haram’s use of kidnapping as a weapon. But the experiences of survivors such as Hannah revealed that the group had been abducting women and girls for years, subjecting them to sexual slavery, forced marriage and violence in its camps.
