Nadia Murad Speaks at Harvard

By GRAHAM WALTER

Having survived ISIS’ genocide and abductions of the Yazidi community, Nadia Murad has won the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocation of sexual violence. Nadia spoke last Wednesday (04/03/19) as a part of the Weatherhead Center’s Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture Series in Memorial Church. Her talk reflected her life before her capture and how those events inspire and prompt her to speak out so strongly against sexual violence.

Murad spoke about the atrocities of the terrorist organization and how over 600 men from her community were killed. Murad then went on to describe what the women faced under ISIS’ captivity. In the words of her translator, Shahnaz Osso, ISIS “made sure that women saw the most heartache and suffering. I have talked to many Yazidi women who would say they wish they had been killed” because of the amount of sexual violence and trauma they had to undergo.”

Murad discussed her early life in hopes to communicate how her upbringing as a farmer taught her to “go to any ends to make” what she needed work. This dedication would help her escape ISIS after a few weeks of imprisonment and allow her to take so passionately to speaking out against sexual violence. Through the help of her interpreter, Murad conveyed how getting along afterwards would be the toughest part, but she knows “how crucial it is” to use her own experience to help others, despite the trauma she must relive.

Graham Walter (grahamwalter@college.harvard.edu) writes news for the Indy.