Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad: Who are the Nobel Peace Prize 2018 winners?

Dr Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and conflict.
AP
Georgia Chambers5 October 2018

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Dr Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for efforts to end sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.

Ms Murad, 25, was taken as a sex slave by ISIS in 2014 and has since become a human rights activist.

Dr Mukwege, 63, has devoted his life to help victims of sexual violence in his war-torn country of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The award was announced by the Norweigian Nobel Committee on Friday in Oslo.

The pair beat bookies' favourites Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un and South Korean president Moon Jae-in to the prize.

Here's everything you need to know about the Nobel Peace Prize winners:

Who is Dr Denis Mukwege?

Peace Prize winner: Congolese gynaecologist Dr Denis Mukwege specialised in treating victims of rape and extreme sexual violence.
AFP/Getty Images

Dr Mukwege has treated thousands of patients who have been subject to sexual violence in DRC.

In 1998, Dr Mukwege founded the Panzi Hospital, which was originally purposed to provide maternity care.

At the time, his country was overtaken by an epidemic of sexual violence, with Rwandan Hutu rebels and Congolese government soldiers using the systematic rape of women and girls as a means of terrorising the population.

In response to the crisis, Dr Mukwege began to recruit staff to specifically deal with the injuries of victims of sexual assault - some as young as three years old.

Dr Mukwege is thought to have treated over 20,000 patients and is considered the world's leading expert on repairing injuries from rape.

In 2008, he was awarded the United Nations Human Rights Prize and the Olof Palme Prize for outstanding achievement in promoting peace.

In 2014, he was awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

Who is Nadia Murad?

Peace Prize winner: Nadia Murad is a public advocate for the Yazidi community in Iraq and survivor of sexual enslavement by the Islamic State jihadists.
AFP/Getty Images

Ms Murad, a Yazidi woman, was tortured and raped by Islamic State militants, spending three months enslaved among 5,000 other women and girls.

After escaping IS in November 2014, she campaigned to free the Yazidi people and stop human trafficking.

Aged just 23, she became the UN's first goodwill ambassador for the dignity of survivors of human trafficking.

Previous Nobel Prize Winners - In Pictures

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Why did they win the Nobel Peace Prize?

Ms Murad and Dr Mukwege's wins are particularly significant in the wake of the #MeToo movement and increased worldwide recognition over issues of sexual violence.

The committee said about Dr Mukwege: "Denis Mukwege's basic principle is that 'justice is everyone's business.'

"The 2018 Peace Laureate is the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts."

Of Ms Murad's award, the committee commented: "She has shown uncommon courage in recounting her own sufferings and speaking up on behalf of other victims.

"Nadia Murad is one of an estimated 3,000 Yazidi girls and women who were victims of rape and other abuses by the IS army.

"The abuses were systematic and part of a military strategy. They served as a weapon in the fight against Yazidis and other religious minorities."

The nine million Swedish kronor (£777,000) will be shared between the two laureates.

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