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Nadia Murad, a 24-year-old Yezidi woman and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner, speaks at the National Press Club on October 8, 2018 in Washington, DC (photo credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
This year's co-winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize on Monday called for a global fight against genocide and sexual violence, pledging to be the voice of victims around the world.
Iraqi Nadia Murad said at her first press conference since her acceptance of the award that she felt compelled to stand up for the rights of persecuted people around the world.
"We must work together to end the genocide, hold those who have committed these crimes to account, and seek justice for the victims," Murad told a packed audience at the National Press Club.
Murad, 25, was among the thousands of Yazidi minority women and girls who were kidnapped and enslaved in 2014 by the group known as the Islamic State. The Yazidis are an ancient religious minority that has its roots in many small villages in a remote northern part of Iraq.
Murad received this Friday the prize for peace with Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege, who treats women victims of sexual violence.
Ms. Murad said she was honored to be a Nobel Laureate, but said that much remained to be done to bring to justice the perpetrators of the crimes committed against her and her family. other Yazidis.
"Until now, we have not yet seen that justice is done for the Yazidis, especially for the victims of sexual slavery," she said, adding that "there is no such thing as". she wanted the fighters of the Islamic State to be tried for their crimes.
In 2016, Murad was named the first UN Goodwill Ambassador for the dignity of victims of human trafficking.
Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege is presented on November 26, 2014 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg and Nadia Murad is presented on December 13, 2016 to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. (Frederick Florin / AFP / Getty Images)
A US-led investigation into crimes committed by the Islamic State was launched in 2017 and began collecting and preserving evidence in August. The trials of ISF fighters led by Iraqi and Syrian forces have been criticized by human rights groups who claim that the proceedings are rushed, flawed and often based on confessions extracted under torture.
Murad also called on the Iraqi government and the international community to rebuild Yazidi towns and villages destroyed by the war against the Islamic State.
With little help for reconstruction, most of the Yazidi territories taken over from the Islamic State in Iraq remain in ruins. The high level of destruction combined with inadequate security forces on the ground have left tens of thousands of Yazidis stuck in IDP camps years after the declaration of their homes being released.
Murad presented plans to focus more on rebuilding Yazidi communities in Iraq. "But without peace, even if we rebuild, life is not possible," she added.
This year's Peace Award is part of a climate of increased attention to sexually abused women around the world, highlighted by the #MeToo movement. When she was asked about the movement and its connection to her experience, Murad said she hoped that all victims of sexual violence would feel safe to share their stories.
"I hope all women who talk about their experiences of sexual violence are heard and accepted," she said.
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