Human rights activist and recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, Nadia Murad is a leading advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, "The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State," is a harrowing account of the genocide against the Yazidi people of Iraq and Nadia’s imprisonment by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).
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Nadia Murad
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Human Rights Activist
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Human rights activist and recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, Nadia Murad is a leading advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, “The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State,” is a harrowing account of the genocide against the Yazidi people of Iraq and Nadia’s imprisonment by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).
With the help of an interpreter, Nadia partakes in onstage conversations to share her painful story of captivity, her courageous escape, and her new life as a human rights activist. As a survivor of rape, a refugee, and a religious minority, Murad speaks all over the world and meets world leaders to create greater awareness of sexual violence, human trafficking and the needs of its victims, and defend the rights of all marginalized ethnic and religious minorities.
Nadia grew up in a small farming village in the Sinjar region of Northern Iraq. In 2014, ISIS attacked her village and killed thousands of Yazidis, including her beloved mother and several of her brothers. Nadia was taken to Mosul and forced, along with thousands of other Yazidi girls, into sexual slavery. After escaping captivity, Nadia relocated to Germany as a refugee and began raising awareness of the ongoing plight of the Yazidi community and the need to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
In 2016, Nadia became the first United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. That year, she was also awarded the Council of Europe Václav Havel Award for Human Rights and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. In 2018, she awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She is also the recipient of the Clinton Global Citizen Award, the Peace Prize from the United Nations Association of Spain, and was named the 2016 Woman of the Year by Glamour Magazine. In 2019, Nadia was appointed as a UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocate.
Nadia is the founder and president of Nadia’s Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to rebuilding communities in crisis and advocating for survivors of sexual violence.
In her capacity as a member of France’s Gender Advisory Council, Nadia advocated for G7 member states to adopt legislation that protects and promotes women’s rights. Nadia was instrumental in drafting and advocating for the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 2467, which expands the UN’s commitments to end sexual violence in conflict. Nadia was also a driving force behind the drafting and passing of UN Security Council Resolution 2379, which established the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL. Since 2015, Nadia has been working with Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, governments, and the UN to bring ISIS before the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Her 2017 memoir, “The Last Girl” was released to worldwide critical acclaim and praised as “A devastating yet ultimately inspiring memoir that doubles as an urgent call to action” by Kirkus. In its starred review, Publisher’s Weekly called it “Brilliant and intense. . . a clear-eyed account of ISIS’s cruelty.” “The Last Girl” has been translated into more than 40 languages in order to share Nadia’s intimate story as an example for other survivors, including those still in captivity.
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Topics
Topics
NADIA’S INITIATIVE: REBUILDING COMMUNITIES, PROTECTING SURVIVORS
THE LAST GIRL: A STORY OF COURAGE AND RESILIENCE
Videos
Videos
Nadia Murad: Nobel Peace Prize lecture 2018 (English subtitles)
Nadia Murad speaking to BBC HARDtalk in 2016
Books
ON HER SHOULDER
LAST GIRL
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