Nadia Murad
Nadia Murad Basee Taha is an Iraqi-born Yazidi human rights activist based in Germany. In 2014, as part of the Yazidi genocide by the Islamic State, she was abducted from her hometown of Kocho in Iraq and much of her community was massacred. After losing most of her family, Murad was held as an Islamic State sex slave for three months, alongside thousands of other Yazidi women and girls.
Some of the key events about Nadia Murad
- 2014Escaped captivity by ISIS after three months of enslavement and sexual abuse
- 2014Was captured by ISIS militants and subjected to sexual slavery and abuse for three months
- 2014Witnessed the massacre of Yazidi men in her village, including six of her brothers and stepbrothers
- 2014Forced to convert to Islam under duress by ISIS captors
- 2014Attempted to escape but was caught and severely beaten as punishment
- 2014Separated from her family and community during the ISIS attack on Sinjar
- 2014Experienced severe trauma and psychological distress from her captivity and abuse
- 2015Testified before the United Nations Security Council about human trafficking
- 2015Faced challenges and stigma as a survivor of sexual violence upon escaping ISIS
- 2015Struggled with the loss of her home and displacement from her community
- 2016Appointed as the first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations
- 2016Established Nadia's Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women and children victimized by genocide and human trafficking
- 2016Received death threats for speaking out against ISIS and advocating for Yazidi rights
- 2017Published a memoir titled "The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State"
- 2018Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Denis Mukwege for efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war
- 2018Donated the entire $500,000 prize money from the Nobel Peace Prize to build a hospital in Sinjar, Iraq
- 2018Expressed frustration with the slow pace of justice and lack of international action to help Yazidi survivors
- 2019Addressed the United Nations Security Council, urging members to take action against ISIS
- 2019Received the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize from the Council of Europe
- 2021Married human rights activist Abid Shamdeen, continuing their joint advocacy work
Disclaimer: This material is written based on information taken from open sources, including Wikipedia, news media, podcasts, and other public sources.