The Congolese gynaecologist, Denis Mukwege, who has treated thousands of rape victims, and Nadia Murad, the Iraqi Yazidi, who was sold into sex slavery by Isis, have been jointly awarded the 2018 Nobel peace prize. The committee said: “They have both put their own personal security at risk by courageously combatting war crimes and securing justice for victims.”
The committee said they had both “helped to give greater visibility to war-time sexual violence”. The joint award comes a decade since the UN security council adopted Resolution 1820 (2008), which determined that the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict constitutes both a war crime and a threat to international peace and security.
Congratulations have flooded in, including from past winners Malala Yousafzai, and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the respective heads of Nato and the European Council, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, herself tipped as a potential laureate. The Iraqi government praised Murad, while a spokesman for the Congolese government saluted Mukwege while acknowledging their disagreements and accusing him of a tendency to “politicise” his humanitarian work.
This blog is closing now but I’m going to leave you with a profile of Murad written by my colleague Emma Graham-Harrison, who says it is an award “that celebrates her own extraordinary courage and vital work for women everywhere”. (The Guardian)