Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian women’s and human rights activist. She was named the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”. She will not receive the prize in person, as she is serving a lengthy politically motivated prison sentence in Iran for challenging the regime.
Narges Mohammadi is an engineer by education, but also worked as a journalist for various reformist media outlets. Her activism began while she was still a student and advocated for women’s rights.
She is known for her activism for gender equality, as well as for prisoner’s rights, especially against the death penalty. As part of her activism, she has served as the vice president and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Center established by fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Shirin Ebadi.
In May 2016, Narges Mohammadi was sentenced in Tehran to 16 years' imprisonment on politically motivated charges. She is currently serving the sentence in the notorious Evin prison. Narges Mohammadi will be the fifth person to be awarded the prize while imprisoned.
Her prize comes after a tumultuous year of mass scale protests and a growing outcry over women’s rights abuses in Iran after the murder of Mahsa Amini. Narges becomes the 19th woman Nobel Peace Prize laureate, compared to over 90 men.