World Leaders Forum - Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Hosted by the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, the World Leaders Forum provides a space for dialogue where distinguished visitors and students have an opportunity to to discuss critical global concerns.

Nadia Murad was born into a farming family in Kojo, Iraq. Murad is a member of the Yazidi ethnic and religious minority group. When she was 19 years old, the Islamic State, commonly known as ISIS, attacked her village and killed 600 Yazidi men, including several of her family members. ISIS took Murad prisoner and subjected her to physical and sexual abuse. After three months in captivity, Murad escaped to a refugee camp before moving to Germany.

Murad is now an advocate for awareness about sexual violence and genocide of the Yazidi people under ISIS. In 2018, Murad shared the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy. Murad received the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize from the Council of Europe, which recognizes “outstanding civil society action in defense of human rights.” She is a frequent speaker on the topic of sexual violence and slavery as tools of modern war.