Citation

Thornton J. BMJ 2018; 363: k4240.

Affiliation

London, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bmj.k4240

PMID

30301830

Abstract

An “extraordinary and courageous” Congolese gynaecologist who has spent decades helping people raped as a weapon of war has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2018.

Denis Mukwege, 63, shares the prize with Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad, who was tortured and raped by Islamic State militants and later became the face of a campaign to free the Yazidi people.

Mukwege was operating at Panzi hospital in Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), when he heard the news which was announced in Oslo on 5 October. He is now medical director of the hospital which he founded in 1999, where he lives under the permanent protection of UN peacekeepers.

He dedicated his award to all women affected by sexual violence. “This Nobel prize is a …

Language: en