The Nobel Prize has experienced its fair share of controversy despite being established with the best intentions.
It is an award designed to recognise those in service of humanity in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace.
Particularly in the peace category there have been some dubious awards and some undeserving winners but this year’s Nobel Peace Prize could not have gone to two more deserving activists: Yazidi sexual slavery survivor Nadia Murad and Congolese gynaecologist Dr Denis Mukwege.
Both are working for important causes that have not received sufficient attention from the international community: sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and sexual slavery organised by Islamic State (IS) militants.
Commended for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict, in their respective ways, they have raised awareness and shed light on situations facing their respective communities.
Murad was kidnapped by IS in 2014 when they invaded her village in Sinjar, Iraq.
First they insisted the Yazidi convert to Islam and killed anyone who refused to comply. Six hundred people, mostly men, were killed; the remaining women and girls were forced into slavery.
Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient Nadia Murad speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, US, on Monday. Picture: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Murad was held captive for one month in Mosul, two hours away from Sinjar. She was subjected to rape and abuse as a sexual slave for IS fighters.
Murad was one of 6700 made sex slaves by IS that year. She tried to escape and was punished for it by being repeatedly gang raped. She tried again when her captor left the door unlocked. This time she managed to get away.
She found refuge with a family that was not sympathetic to IS’s cause, which helped smuggle her out of IS-controlled areas and to a refugee camp.
Murad eventually was accepted as a refugee in Germany. It was there that she started her campaign and using her story to remind the world that the suffering of the Yazidi continues.
She said, “My story, told honestly and matter-of-factly, is the best weapon I have against terrorism, and I plan on using it until those terrorists are put on trial.”
In December 2015, Murad addressed the UN Security Council and then went on to establish Nadia’s Initiative, an organisation that aims to raise awareness and provide assistance to victims of sexual violence, and to stabilise and assist communities in crisis.
A total of 1500 women remain in captivity and 300000 internally displaced people are living in camps. Young Yazidi boys have been forced into IS training camps.
Murad’s work continues to be absolutely essential.
The work of co-winner Mukwege falls in the same category. The gynaecologist has dedicated his life to assisting women who have been sexually violated in the DRC.
His work includes providing reconstructive surgery, psychosocial support and raising awareness about the use of rape as a tool of war while advocating for women’s rights.
Denis Mukwege, a gynaecologist treating victims of sexual violence, speaking at the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, South Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, a week ago. Picture: Crispin Kyalangalilwa/Reuters
Last year, UN Women estimated that about 1million women have been sexually violated over the last 20 years of the conflict in the DRC.
It is doctors like Mukwege, who have worked tirelessly to battle the scourge of sexual violence. He established the Panzi Hospital in 1999 and since then he and his staff have helped to care for more than 50000 survivors of sexual violence.
After denouncing the violence in eastern DRC and calling for accountability, an attempt was made on his life in 2012. His family was held hostage, and his trusted bodyguard and friend was killed during an assassination attempt. Mukwege left the country but returned a year later to continue his work.
Panzi Hospital was almost closed in 2015 when the Congolese government demanded $600000 (R8.7million) for years of back taxes, despite the fact that all Congolese hospitals in the DRC are tax exempt. After an international outcry, the government withdrew its request. Despite the adversities, Mukwege continues to fight the good fight.
Perhaps the recognition of the efforts of these two humanitarians will spur more international action to address the root cause of such gross violations of human dignity.
Angela Mudukuti is an international criminal justice lawyer with the Wayamo Foundation, previously with the Southern Africa Litigation Centre and the International Criminal Court