Nadia Murad

Nadia Murad is a human rights activist who identifies as part of the Yazidi community which embraces a mixture of Islamic, Christian, and ancient Iranian religious beliefs. At 19 years old, the Islamic State attacked her village and killed hundreds of Yazidi people with the intent of ethnic cleansing. Murad and others were taken prisoner and endured unthinkable harm. After escaping captivity and making her way to Germany in 2015, Nadia told her story with the intention that it would result in her abusers being brought to justice.

Murad now aims to help victims of abuse as the founder of Nadia’s Initiative, an organization dedicated to “helping women and children victimized by genocide, mass atrocities, and human trafficking to heal and rebuild their lives and communities.” In 2016, she was appointed the United Nations’ first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. In 2018, she and Denis Mukwege were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.” She is the first Iraqi and Yazidi to be awarded a Nobel Prize. More of Murad’s story can be found in her autobiography, The Last Girl.