Nadia Murad

Nadia Murad
Born	Nadia Murad Basee Taha 10 3, 1993
Birthplace	Kocho, Sinjar District, Iraq
Nationality	Iraqi
Occupation	Human rights activist, author
Known for	Surviving the Yazidi genocide, advocacy against sexual violence in conflict
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize (2018), Sakharov Prize (2016), Václav Havel Human Rights Prize (2016)
Website	[https://nadiasinitiative.org/ Official site]

Nadia Murad Basee Taha (Template:Lang-ku; Template:Lang-ar; born 10 March 1993) is an Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist and author who survived captivity and sexual enslavement at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the 2014 Yazidi genocide. Born in the small farming village of Kocho in Iraq's Sinjar District, Murad's life was irrevocably altered in August 2014 when ISIL militants attacked her community, massacred many of its male inhabitants—including six of her brothers—and abducted women and girls into sexual slavery. After three months of captivity, Murad escaped and eventually made her way to a refugee camp and later to Germany. Rather than remain silent about the atrocities she endured, Murad chose to speak publicly about her experiences, becoming one of the most prominent voices calling for international accountability for crimes committed against the Yazidi people. In 2016, she was appointed the first-ever Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. She is the founder of Nadia's Initiative, a nonprofit organization that works to rebuild communities affected by genocide and to support survivors of sexual violence and human trafficking. In 2018, Murad was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict, making her the first Iraqi and the first Yazidi to receive the award.

Early Life

Nadia Murad was born on 10 March 1993 in Kocho, a small agricultural village located in the Sinjar District of northwestern Iraq's Nineveh Governorate. She grew up in a large Yazidi family. The Yazidis are an ethno-religious minority group indigenous to northern Mesopotamia who practice an ancient monotheistic faith with elements drawn from various religious traditions. For centuries, the Yazidi community has faced persecution from surrounding groups, and Kocho was one of several Yazidi villages situated at the southern edge of the Sinjar mountain region.

Before the events of 2014, Murad lived a modest rural life. She harbored aspirations of one day becoming a history teacher or, as she later recounted, running her own beauty salon in Kocho. In her later descriptions of her childhood, she depicted Kocho as a close-knit community where daily life revolved around farming and family.

The events that would transform Murad's life began on 3 August 2014, when ISIL launched a coordinated assault on Sinjar and the surrounding Yazidi communities. The attack constituted a systematic campaign of violence directed at the Yazidi population that the United Nations and numerous international bodies would later classify as genocide. In Kocho, ISIL militants besieged the village and, on 15 August 2014, separated the men from the women and children. The men and older boys were executed en masse, while women and girls were abducted and taken into captivity. Murad lost six of her brothers and her mother in the massacre.

Murad was among the thousands of Yazidi women and girls captured by ISIL and forced into sexual slavery. She was held captive for approximately three months, during which time she was subjected to repeated sexual assault, torture, and beatings. Murad eventually managed to escape from her captors with the help of a Sunni Muslim family who smuggled her out of ISIL-controlled territory. She made her way to a refugee camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and subsequently traveled to Germany, where she received asylum and has since been based.

Career

Emergence as an Advocate

Following her escape from ISIL captivity, Murad made the decision to speak openly about the atrocities she and other Yazidi women had endured. This decision was significant within a cultural context where sexual violence carried heavy social stigma. By publicly identifying herself as a survivor of sexual slavery, Murad broke with prevailing social norms in order to draw international attention to the ongoing plight of the Yazidi community and the thousands of women and girls who remained in ISIL captivity.

Murad's advocacy quickly attracted international attention. On 16 December 2015, she addressed the United Nations Security Council in a session focused on human trafficking in conflict zones, providing direct testimony of her captivity and the systematic sexual violence perpetrated by ISIL against Yazidi women. Her testimony before the Security Council was one of the first occasions on which a survivor of ISIL's sexual enslavement campaign spoke directly to the international body, and it drew significant media coverage.

United Nations Goodwill Ambassador

In September 2016, Murad was appointed the first-ever Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). In this role, she worked to raise awareness of the issue of human trafficking, particularly in the context of armed conflict, and advocated for stronger international mechanisms to protect survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.

Her appointment came during a period of heightened international advocacy surrounding the Yazidi genocide. International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney took on Murad's case and represented her before the United Nations, pressing for ISIL's actions against the Yazidis to be formally recognized as genocide and referred to the International Criminal Court.

Nadia's Initiative

Murad founded Nadia's Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping women and children who have been victimized by genocide, mass atrocities, and human trafficking to heal and rebuild their lives and communities. The organization's establishment was prompted by the Sinjar massacre and the subsequent displacement and destruction of Yazidi communities across northern Iraq.

Nadia's Initiative focuses on several core areas, including rebuilding infrastructure in communities affected by genocide, providing support services for survivors of sexual violence and trafficking, and advocating for accountability and justice for the perpetrators of atrocities against the Yazidi people. The organization has undertaken projects to rebuild schools, health clinics, and other infrastructure in the Sinjar region, working to create the conditions necessary for displaced Yazidi families to return to their homeland.

The Last Girl

In 2017, Murad published her memoir, The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State, co-written with Jenna Krajeski. The book provides a detailed account of Murad's childhood in Kocho, the ISIL attack on her village, her captivity and enslavement, her escape, and her subsequent emergence as a human rights advocate. The title reflects Murad's expressed hope that she would be the last girl in the world to have such a story to tell. The book brought further international attention to the Yazidi genocide and helped to personalize the broader humanitarian catastrophe that had befallen the Yazidi community.

Nobel Peace Prize

On 5 October 2018, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that Murad and Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege would share the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for "their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict." The Committee noted that both laureates had "made a crucial contribution to focusing attention on, and combating, such war crimes." Murad was recognized specifically for her courage in recounting her own suffering and for giving voice to the thousands of other victims.

The award made Murad the first Iraqi and the first Yazidi to receive a Nobel Prize. She was 25 years old at the time of the announcement, making her one of the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipients.

Continued Advocacy

Following the Nobel Prize, Murad has continued her advocacy work on the international stage. She has spoken at universities, conferences, and before governmental bodies around the world, consistently pressing for international accountability for crimes committed during the Yazidi genocide, for the recovery and rehabilitation of Yazidi survivors, and for the recognition of sexual violence in conflict as a matter of international peace and security.

In August 2025, Murad returned to Iraq to bury her brothers Elias and Jalo, whose remains had been recovered nearly eleven years after their execution by ISIL. Writing in Time magazine, Murad described the experience of finally being able to say goodbye to her brothers and the continued grief carried by Yazidi families who lost loved ones in the genocide.

In October 2025, Murad spoke at Chapman University as part of its presidential inauguration event series, where she shared messages of resilience and hope with students and faculty. That same month, she spoke at Boston University's Pardee School of Global Studies, where she discussed the misuse of religion to justify violence and her continuing fight against genocide.

In 2025, Murad met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, continuing her engagement with global religious and political leaders in her advocacy for persecuted minorities and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. Murad had previously met with Pope Francis in May 2017, during which she discussed the situation of the Yazidi community and the plight of religious minorities in Iraq.

Personal Life

Murad is based in Germany, where she received asylum after escaping ISIL captivity and fleeing Iraq. She has spoken openly about the difficulty of rebuilding a life after the trauma of captivity and the loss of much of her family.

In August 2025, Murad traveled to Iraq to attend the burial of her brothers Elias and Jalo, whose remains had been identified after years of forensic investigation into the mass graves left by ISIL in the Sinjar region. Writing about the experience in Time magazine, she described the emotional weight of returning to Iraq and the continued absence felt by Yazidi families who have yet to recover the remains of their loved ones.

Murad has repeatedly stated that her motivation for speaking publicly about her experiences stems from her desire for justice for the Yazidi community and for the prevention of similar atrocities in the future. She has acknowledged the personal cost of her advocacy, including the psychological toll of repeatedly recounting traumatic experiences before international audiences.

Recognition

Murad has received numerous awards and honors for her human rights advocacy.

In 2016, she was jointly awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament, alongside Lamiya Aji Bashar, another Yazidi survivor of ISIL captivity. The nomination was supported by European parliamentarians who highlighted the Yazidi genocide as a matter of urgent international concern.

Also in 2016, Murad received the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, recognizing her outstanding civil society action in the defense of human rights.

In September 2016, she was appointed as the first-ever Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

In 2018, Murad received the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Denis Mukwege, for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. The Norwegian Nobel Committee stated that the two laureates had "each in their own way helped to give greater visibility to war-time sexual violence, so that the perpetrators can be held accountable for their actions."

Murad has been profiled by Forbes and has appeared on numerous lists recognizing influential figures in the fields of human rights and international affairs. Time magazine recognized her contributions as part of its Women of the Year series.

Legacy

Murad's decision to speak publicly about her experiences of sexual enslavement by ISIL had a significant impact on international discourse surrounding conflict-related sexual violence. By providing direct, personal testimony before bodies such as the United Nations Security Council and the European Parliament, she helped to focus global attention on the Yazidi genocide at a time when the crisis received comparatively limited international coverage.

Her advocacy contributed to broader efforts to establish legal accountability for crimes committed against the Yazidi people. In September 2017, the United Nations Security Council established a team to investigate ISIL's crimes in Iraq, a development that Murad and other Yazidi advocates had long sought. Her work with Amal Clooney and other legal advocates helped frame the systematic sexual violence against Yazidi women as a form of genocide and crime against humanity under international law.

Through Nadia's Initiative, Murad has worked to move beyond advocacy and toward the practical rebuilding of communities devastated by the genocide. The organization's projects in the Sinjar region aim to create the conditions necessary for displaced Yazidis to return home, addressing needs ranging from physical infrastructure to psychosocial support for survivors of trauma.

Murad's memoir, The Last Girl, has served as an important document of the Yazidi genocide, providing a personal account of events that might otherwise be known primarily through news reports and official investigations. The book contributed to a broader public understanding of the scale and nature of ISIL's crimes against the Yazidi community.

As of 2025, Murad continues to travel internationally, speaking at universities and meeting with world leaders to advocate for the rights of persecuted minorities, the accountability of perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict, and the ongoing needs of the Yazidi community in Iraq and in diaspora.