The pair won the award for their “efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war,” Nobel committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said in unveiling the winners in Oslo.
Both have come to represent the struggle against a global scourge which goes well beyond any single conflict, as the ever-expanding #MeToo movement has shown.
“They have both put their own personal security at risk by courageously combatting war crimes and securing justice for victims,” the committee said.
The Nobel peace prize committee said Nadia Murad, who was captured by Isis and repeatedly raped and subjected to abuses “is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others.
“She has shown uncommon courage in recounting her own sufferings and speaking up on behalf of other victims”.
The committee said that Denis Mukwege “has spent large parts of his adult life helping the victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Dr Mukwege and his staff have treated thousands of patients who have fallen victim to such assaults.”
2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege is the helper who has devoted his life to defending victims of war-time sexual violence. Fellow laureate Nadia Murad is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others. #NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/MY6IdYWN1e
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2018
Watch the moment the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize is announced.
Presented by Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. pic.twitter.com/fIv2yWPxE6