Boko Haram Uses Girls as Fighters

Boko Haram has been using the girls and women it abducts in northern Nigeria as fighters and assistants on the front lines, according to Human Rights Watch. In interviews with 30 escapees, a new report outlines the various tasks these young women are forced to do: from handling ammunition to killing civilians. Many described being raped, threatened with death to convert to Islam, and being forced to marry Boko Haram fighters. Since 2009, HRW estimates that 500 women have been abducted by the militant group.