All Women Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Nadia Murad, whose name was announced as one of the Nobel Peace Prize winners on Friday, October 12, is the seventeenth woman to receive this award since its inception in 1901. The first woman to receive this prize was Austrian Bertha von Suttner, who was awarded it in the fifth year of the Nobel Peace Prize. Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer, is also among the 17 women who have received this award. However, the number of women winners is significantly lower than that of men and even fewer than the organizations and groups that have received the prize. But what reasons have made these women deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize? 2018: Nadia Murad Nadia Murad, a Kurdish Yazidi woman from Sinjar, Iraq, was announced as a winner of the prize on October 12, 2018, alongside Denis Mukwege from the Democratic Republic of Congo for their efforts in "fighting against sexual violence and its use in wars as a weapon." 2014: Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani human rights activist and member of the girls' education campaign, was targeted in an unsuccessful assassination attempt by the Taliban two years prior while on her way to school. In 2014, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Kailash Satyarthi from India for "fighting against the oppression of children and young people and for the right to education for all children." 2011: Tawakkol Karman, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Leymah Gbowee, both from Liberia, and Tawakkol Karman from Yemen, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their "non-violent struggle for women's security and for women's right to participate fully in peace-building." 2004: Wangari Maathai, an environmental activist from Kenya, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her "contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace." 2003: Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer and human rights activist, is the only Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner and was awarded for her "efforts to promote democracy and human rights in Iran, especially concerning the rights of women and children." 1997: Jody Williams, an American civil activist, jointly received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines for her "work in banning and clearing anti-personnel mines." 1992: Rigoberta Menchú, a politician and civil rights activist from Guatemala, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in "social justice and ethnic reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples." 1991: Aung San Suu Kyi, who has faced criticism recently for her handling of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her "non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights." 1982: Alva Myrdal, a Swedish diplomat and leader in the disarmament movement, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Alfonso García Robles for her "outstanding work in UN disarmament negotiations." 1979: Mother Teresa, an Albanian-born nun, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Missionaries of Charity in India. 1976: Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams, two British civil activists, were founders of the Northern Ireland Peace Movement, later recognized as the community of peace seekers. 1946: Emily Greene Balch, a former history and sociology professor and honorary president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her contributions. 1931: Jane Addams, a civil rights activist from the United States, received the Nobel Peace Prize for her "work on social reforms and leadership of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom." 1905: Bertha von Suttner was the first woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded for writing the novel "Lay Down Your Arms" and her efforts to establish the Nobel Peace Prize.