Nobel Peace Prize honours fight against sexual violence

​Oslo, Norway: The Nobel Peace Prize on Friday was awarded to a Congolese doctor and an Iraqi woman who was held captive by the Islamic State group for their work to highlight and eliminate the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad “have made a crucial contribution to focusing attention on, and combating, such war crimes,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its announcement. 

“Denis Mukwege is the helper who has devoted his life to defending these victims. Nadia Murad is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others.” Mukwege, 63, founded a hospital in eastern Congo’s Bukavu and has treated thousands of women, many of whom were victims of gang rape. Armed men tried to kill him in 2012, forcing him to temporarily leave the country.

Murad is one of an estimated 3,000 Yazidi girls and women who were victims of rape and other abuses by IS militants. She managed to escape after three months and chose to speak about her experiences. At the age of 23, she was named the UN’s first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. Her book, “The Last Girl,” tells of her captivity, the loss of her family and her eventual escape. Both honourees are the first from their countries to receive a Nobel Prize.