Yesterday, the members of the international Nobel Peace Prize committee awarded the 2018 honour to two figures who have brought attention to ending sexual violence in armed conflict, highlighting the use of rape as a weapon of war. Nadia Murad, an Iraqi Yazidi who has spoken about her own suffering at the hands of the terrorist group Daesh, is one of the recipients. The other is Denis Mukwege, a gynaecologist who has treated thousands of victims of rape from his hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo and who has faced death threats for his work.
In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the pair, the committee said that it wanted to make sure that women are protected and that their predators should be held to account for their actions as a prerequisite for any lasting peace in a situation of conflict.
The decision to highlight sexual violence against women comes at a time when frustrations are running high over historic claims of sexual abuse, an issue highlighted by the #MeToo campaign that has gained momentum this past year. While the Nobel committee chose to recognise the most aggressive and destructive form of sexual violence in awarding the 2018 Peace Prize jointly to Mukwege and Murad, it is also offering a vote of support for those who campaign against sexual abuse of women in whatever form that may be. Indeed, given the political undercurrents currently unfolding in the United States Senate over the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the message from the Nobel committee is not without controversy.
There had been suggestions prior to yesterday’s announcement that the award may have been given to US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for their rapprochement in Singapore on Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, but it’s still far too early in a tenuous path for such international recognition. The committee did note, however, that a decade has passed since Resolution 1820 was adopted by the United Nations Security Council that determined that the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and in armed conflict constitutes both a war crime and a threat to international peace and security. By honouring Mugwege and Murad, the committee has recognised their ceaseless work in highlighting the brutalisation of women as a consequence of armed conflict.
When Daesh overran parts of Iraq and Syria four years ago, it treated women as subservient and, with the Yazidi minority in particular, the terrorist group embarked on a frenzied campaign of rape and sexual degradation. Similarly, various rebel groups and insurgents have, for decades, embarked on maniacal campaign of sexual gratification that left thousands of Congolese women violated and severely traumatised.
