Murad hopes Prize will bring justice to victims

Nadia Murat Nobel Peace PrizeNobel laureate, Nadia Murat, who gave a face to the Yasidi suffering at the hands of ISIL. Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB scanpix

Murad hopes Peace Prize will bring justice to the victims

– I hope the award will bring justice to women who have suffered as a result of sexual violence, says Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad to the Norwegian Nobel Institute.

 

the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Friday afternoon publicised a phone interview with Nadia Murad. She was in Cambridge in the US state of Massachusetts when she was told that she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018, along with the Congolese medical doctor Denis Mukwege.

In the interview, Murad says it’s not easy for her and other women to talk about the abuses they have been exposed to, but she believes the award will give a voice to all women who are victims of sexual violence in many parts of the world.

She reminds that her people, the Yazidi, were exposed to abuse simply because they are of another faith than the ISIL.

– I hope that this prize can lead to people accepting each other even though they have different religions and that they can live in peace with each other, she says.

Murad also says she is very pleased that Dr Mukwege shares the prize with her.

– He deserves it, she says.

Murad is honoured for having informed the world about the assault and abuse she was exposed to in the hands of the ISIL terrorists in Iraq.

Mukwege dedicates the Peace Prize to female victims of war

The Peace Prize gives hope to women who have been raped in war, says Denis Mukwege, MD.

– I’m honoured by this award, I did not think my struggle would be rewarded in such a way, says the 63-years-old Congolese gynaecologist.

– This award provides raped women with the hope that they are not forgotten, and that the world knows what they’re going through, says Dr Mukwege, who was celebrated by hundreds of women outside the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, in the east of Congo, on Friday.

The Congolese Doctor has spent much of his life helping victims of sexual violence committed by the many militant groups in war-ravaged Congo.

In addition to helping the broken women on the operation table, he has also fought a tireless battle to address the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

The peace prize he dedicates to the victims, to women worldwide wounded in war, and to those who oppose violence on a daily basis.

– This Nobel Peace Prize is a recognition of the suffering and the failure to compensate women who are victims of rape and sexual violence worldwide, he concludes.

Denis Mukwege Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel laureate, Dr Denis Mukwege from Congo. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB scanpix

The Nobel Prize is a recognition of forgotten victims

UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, congratulates the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and says the Award is a recognition of the victims of sexual violence everywhere.

Guterres congratulates Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege with the Nobel Peace Prize in a press release on Friday.

– By honouring those who defend our human dignity, we recognise the award and the countless victims around the world who have often been stigmatised, hidden away and forgotten. This is their prize, as well, writes Guterres.

He commends Murad for contributing to the launch of a UN investigation of assaults committed by ISIL. As a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, she has also contributed to the fight against trafficking, sex slavery and to prosecute the perpetrators, he points out.

Mukwege has made Panzi Hospital a safe haven for women, writes the Secretary-General of the UN.

– As an adept and compassionate surgeon, he has not only repaired broken bodies – but even restored dignity and hope, Guterres concludes.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today

1 Comment on "Murad hopes Prize will bring justice to victims"

  1. Hopefully, it will bring more awareness and action towards this. Sexual abuse has gone unchecked for far too long.

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