The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo. This year’s award winners Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad have both fought to end sexual violence as it is used as a weapon of war. (Please note, this post talks explicitly about some of the violence that both winners witnessed and endured. Continue reading with this in mind.)

Mukwege is a Congolese gynecologist who has treated rape survivors, some as young as 18-months-old. Murad, a Yazidi from Iraq, was kidnapped and kept as an ISIS sex slave, raped and beaten on a daily basis. Both have seen the horrors of war and the use of rape and sexual assault as a way to keep people enslaved and to control others.

Being able to go to the Ceremony was a chance of a lifetime. Only 1,000 people attended. I was lucky enough to be one of those people.

It was a bit of a surreal experience. When we got to Oslo Rådhus (City Hall), we saw police with guns, a rare sight in Norway.  We had to go through metal detectors and I had to show more identification than I do flying in Norway.

Prior to the ceremony, we had soda and sparkling water served in champagne flutes, ate desserts and wondered who else got the chance to be part of this experience. We entered the main floor of City Hall where we found our assigned seats (in the back left), took photos of the stage and space, and played with the headsets that allowed us to listen to the speeches being interpreted in Norske, English, French, or Arabic. We watched on the big screen as the Awardees and Royal Family arrived and entered City Hall. And, the ceremony began.

The ceremony itself was powerful. It took place on the 70^–year anniversary of the historic United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a milestone in the never-ending campaign for human rights. Berit Reiss-Andersen, the Chair of the Nobel Committee, shared about Murad’s and Mukwege’s activist work and the decision of the Committee to award them the Nobel Peace Prize “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.” It was an important moment not only for the winners but for survivors of sexual assault and violence.

Nadia Murad spoke of women’s bodies being used as battlegrounds. She called out not only ISIS but the rest of the world for being complicit in the struggle to end sexual violence. She urged nations to stand up against the perpetrators of sexual violence who use rape as a weapon against women and as a tool of genocide. She urged nations to provide asylum and immigration to the women of war related sexual violence.

Murad’s comments are especially pointed since the United States has come forward and declared that there will be no asylum for victims of domestic abuse or gang-related violence with a memo from the JusticeDepartment stating, “Our nation’s immigration laws provide asylum to be granted to individuals who have been persecuted, or have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of their membership in a particular social group. But victims ofpersonal crimes do not fit this definition—no matter how vile and reprehensiblethe crime perpetrated against them.” As a nation, the United States does notfeel that the rape and mutilation of women and girls justifies asylum. They donot consider survivors of sexual violence a persecuted social group. We standby and allow the atrocities to continue, and yet our present administrationbelieves that funding for a larger and more secure boarder wall is worth a government shutdown.

Dr. Mukwege’s story started with that of an 18-month-old girl who had arrived at the hospital after being penetrated by an adult; her bladder, genitals, and rectum injured. He spoke of nurses crying, millions of people killed and hundreds of thousands of women raped in the Congo. He shared of decades-long abuse and massacre in the Congo as their minerals are mined for smart phones and electric cars. He called forperpetrators to be named and held responsible. He called for us to start to takea stand against the atrocities that occur due to wealth and greed.

Both called for the world to take notice and punish those responsible for wartime sexual violence.

Both these Nobel Peace Prize winners continue to show the world that the stories of women, women’s fight for control of their bodies, and women’s histories need to be heard. We continue to deny stories of women. We continue to choose to hear and follow thestories of men over those of women. Women who are brutally raped, beaten, andforced into situations that take away their dignity and humanity.

Yet, when will this change? When will we as a nation and a world realize that the systematic sexual violence that women experience on a daily basis must end? When will we stand up to other nations, governments, and individuals who see women’s bodies as property? And, when will we stop making women responsible for policing those who perpetuate these crimes? When will we stop making women responsible being treated as objects? When will other women start to fully believe and supportwomen and validate their experiences?

Of all the ceremonies to be able to attend, this is close to my heart. Sexual violence and rape in all forms must stop. We must start to listen to women, support women, and hold individuals accountable for their treatment of women. We do not do this well in the United States. Instead of supporting women we put into office men who treat women as objects, belittle women, sexually assault and even rape women. This needs to change. The Nobel Prize Committee’s choice of Murad and Mukwege will hopefully encourage the world to start to make change, pushing more and more individuals to engage in the hard work that needs to be done to fight sexual violence.