Using Nobel Peace Prize to Fight Trafficking

At age 19, Nadia Murad was kidnapped from her home in Kojo, a village in the Sinjar region of Iraq, and held hostage by the Islamic State. During that attack, militant fighters killed over 3,000 people Yazidis, a religious minority in Iraq. Nadia’s mother and six of her brothers were among those killed, and though Naia survived, she was taken into slavery. Nadia and many others were not only forced into servitude, but were sold as sex slaves to fighters.

Nadia Murad was awarded the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. At age 25 she is the second youngest to receive this award.

“I am incredibly honored and humbled by their support,” Murad said in a statement. “And I share this award with Yazidis, Iraqis, Kurds, other persecuted minorities, and all of the countless victims of sexual violence around the world.”

Naia has vowed to use the entire $500,000 prize money to support Nadia’s Initiative, the organization she founded, to advocate for victims of genocide and human trafficking and to help communities in need. Read more…