2018 Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Yazidi Activist and Congolese Doctor In the midst of a global reckoning over sexual violence, a Yazidi woman who was a captive of the Islamic State and a Congolese gynecological surgeon were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their campaigns to end the use of mass rape as a weapon of war. The award went to Nadia Murad, who became a bold, dignified voice for women who survived sexual violence by the Islamic State, and to Dr. Denis Mukwege, who has treated thousands of women in a country once called the rape capital of the world. They have worked through grave risks to their own lives to help survivors and bring their stories to the world. “We want to send out a message of awareness that women, who constitute half of the population in most communities, actually are used as a weapon of war, and that they need protection and that the perpetrators have to be prosecuted and held responsible for their actions,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said. Follow the link for the rest.
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