Before ISIS invaded and overran his village in northern Iraq, Khalil al-Dakhi was a lawyer. Today, he runs a secret network of contacts deep inside ISIS territory that helps families escape through a modern-day underground railroad. ISIS has massacred hundreds of Yazidi men throughout the region and taken as many as 3,000 women and children captive. Some of these women and girls are forced into marriages. Many are raped. Others are subjected to brutal deaths, such as stoning.

As a result of Mr. al-Dakhi’s efforts, over 100 women and children have been rescued. “I can’t imagine not seeing my daughter two or three times a day, talk[ing] to her, hug[ging] her…now, there are hundreds of children like mine who’ve been taken.”