This Nobel Peace Prize winner is pledging all her prize money toward ending sexual violence and advocating for marginalized women.
Yazidi activist Nadia Murad is a co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. She was awarded approximately $500,000 for her work with survivors of sexual assault.
Murad was abducted by ISIS in 2014 along with more than 6,000 other Yazidi women and girls. She was tortured and bought/sold for sex for three months. She finally escaped with the help of a family in Mosul and is now a prominent force against the genocide of Yazidi people and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
A recent study led by Murad shows the effects “severe and prolonged sexual abuse” can have on women captured by extremists. She says the honor won’t solve the crisis she’s fighting against.
“My survival came with great purpose to defend the rights of persecuted communities in the Middle East and the world and to advocate for the victims of sexual violence,” she stated. “I commit today before you to be the voice for those who don’t have a voice, to stand for those who seek justice and bring fairness to survivors wherever they might be.”
