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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Entertainment
Samuel Osborne

Nadia Murad: Woman who survived Isis gang-rape wins prestigious peace prize

Nadia Murad has been presented with the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize for her work to protect her Yazidi people from Isis. 

Ms Murad escaped sex slavery at the hands of Isis to become the first survivor of captivity to be appointed a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.

The 23-year-old Yazidi was captured by the jihadi group in 2014 and subjected to sexual and physical abuse after being sold several times as a slave to a man with a wife and daughter.

She revealed that Isis militants forced captives to pray and then raped them.

When she first tried to escape, she was handed to six militants, who gang-raped her until she passed out.

After three months in captivitivy, she eventually managed to flee. 

She was one of 5,000 women abducted by fighters as the group swept through territories in Iraq. 

In addition to those enslaved, thousands of men and boys were slaughtered by Isis, including Ms Murad's six brothers.

The award, named after the former Czech president, honours outstanding action in defence of human rights and comes with a €60,000 (£54,000) prize.

Speaking after receiving the award in Strasbourg on Monday, Ms Murad called for a special court to judge crimes committed by Isis militants. 

She has argued the 2014 attack on the Yazidi people should be recognised as a genocide. 

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