person journey
Nadia Murad: From ISIS Captive to Nobel Laureate
In August 2014, ISIS killed the men of Nadia Murad's village and enslaved the women. Three months later she escaped. Four years later she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.
Confirmed2 chapters2014-08-03— 2018-12-10
The Yazidi woman who survived ISIS slavery, escaped, told her story to the world, and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
01
Chapter 01custom01 / 02
August 3, 2014: Sinjar Falls — The Genocide Begins
The Yazidis are an ancient religious minority of northern Iraq — a people who practice a syncretic religion combining elements of Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam, and who have been persecuted for centuries by Muslim majorities who consider their beliefs heretical. By 2014, approximately 500,000 Yazidis lived in Iraq, primarily in the Sinjar region.
On August 3, 2014, ISIS forces swept through Sinjar. They had prepared a theological justification: Yazidis were mushrikeen (polytheists), not People of the Book, and therefore could be enslaved. ISIS fighters implemented a precise system: men and older women were separated and killed. Young women and children were taken as sabaya — sex slaves — to be distributed among ISIS fighters, bought and sold in slave markets in Mosul, Raqqa, and other ISIS-controlled cities.
In the village of Kocho, ISIS surrounded the community for weeks before demanding that residents either convert to Islam or face death. On August 15, 2014, ISIS fighters entered Kocho, separated the men, and killed them in a mass execution. Nadia Murad's six brothers were among those killed. Her mother was killed. The young women were taken.
Nadia Murad was 21 years old. She was taken from Kocho to Mosul, then transferred across ISIS territory. She was held, sold, and subjected to repeated sexual violence by multiple ISIS fighters. The caliphate's territory included vast stretches of Syria — Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, parts of Aleppo province — where enslaved Yazidi women were held and transferred.
On August 3, 2014, ISIS forces swept through Sinjar. They had prepared a theological justification: Yazidis were mushrikeen (polytheists), not People of the Book, and therefore could be enslaved. ISIS fighters implemented a precise system: men and older women were separated and killed. Young women and children were taken as sabaya — sex slaves — to be distributed among ISIS fighters, bought and sold in slave markets in Mosul, Raqqa, and other ISIS-controlled cities.
In the village of Kocho, ISIS surrounded the community for weeks before demanding that residents either convert to Islam or face death. On August 15, 2014, ISIS fighters entered Kocho, separated the men, and killed them in a mass execution. Nadia Murad's six brothers were among those killed. Her mother was killed. The young women were taken.
Nadia Murad was 21 years old. She was taken from Kocho to Mosul, then transferred across ISIS territory. She was held, sold, and subjected to repeated sexual violence by multiple ISIS fighters. The caliphate's territory included vast stretches of Syria — Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, parts of Aleppo province — where enslaved Yazidi women were held and transferred.
Confirmed(85%)Sensitivity: medium
02
Chapter 02custom02 / 02
Escape, Testimony, Nobel Prize: 2014–2018
In November 2014, Nadia Murad escaped. A Sunni family in Mosul helped her flee through ISIS checkpoints to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. She made it to a refugee camp, then out of Iraq.
She began speaking publicly about what had happened — almost immediately, and with extraordinary clarity and courage. She gave detailed testimony to journalists, human rights organizations, and eventually to governments. She named what had been done to her. She refused the shame that perpetrators depend on victims accepting.
In December 2015, she testified before the United Nations Security Council — the first survivor of sexual violence to address the Council. She sat in the chamber and described what ISIS had done to Yazidi women. She named it genocide. She demanded accountability. The Council listened and passed Resolution 2253 a week later.
She became a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. She published her memoir, 'The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State' in 2017. She co-founded Nadia's Initiative, an organization focused on rebuilding communities affected by ISIS.
On October 5, 2018, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the Nobel Peace Prize would be shared between Nadia Murad and Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege — both recognized for their work using the sexual violence of war as a weapon of war.
She accepted the prize in Oslo on December 10, 2018. In her Nobel lecture she said: 'I am here today only because the genocide failed to silence me.' She named what happened as genocide — ISIS's attempt to eliminate the Yazidi people — and demanded that the international community pursue accountability not just acknowledgment.
She began speaking publicly about what had happened — almost immediately, and with extraordinary clarity and courage. She gave detailed testimony to journalists, human rights organizations, and eventually to governments. She named what had been done to her. She refused the shame that perpetrators depend on victims accepting.
In December 2015, she testified before the United Nations Security Council — the first survivor of sexual violence to address the Council. She sat in the chamber and described what ISIS had done to Yazidi women. She named it genocide. She demanded accountability. The Council listened and passed Resolution 2253 a week later.
She became a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. She published her memoir, 'The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State' in 2017. She co-founded Nadia's Initiative, an organization focused on rebuilding communities affected by ISIS.
On October 5, 2018, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the Nobel Peace Prize would be shared between Nadia Murad and Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege — both recognized for their work using the sexual violence of war as a weapon of war.
She accepted the prize in Oslo on December 10, 2018. In her Nobel lecture she said: 'I am here today only because the genocide failed to silence me.' She named what happened as genocide — ISIS's attempt to eliminate the Yazidi people — and demanded that the international community pursue accountability not just acknowledgment.
Confirmed(85%)Sensitivity: medium
Full Source List
01
They came to destroy: ISIS crimes against the YazidisUN Human Rights Council
Continue the Journey
Explore other journeys in this documentary archive
All Journeys