Tawakkol Karman — Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, Oslo, 10 December 2011 (English translation of Arabic original)

I have always believed that resistance against repression and violence is possible without relying on similar repression and violence. [… …] The solution to women's issues can only be achieved in a free and democratic society in which human energy is liberated, the energy of both women and men together.

[… …] Peace within one country is no less important than peace between countries. War is not just a conflict between states. There is another type of war, which is far more bitter, that is the war of despotic leaders who oppress their own people. […] It is the war which today people face in the Arab States.

Peace does not mean just to stop wars, but also to stop oppression and injustice. [… …] The Arab people who are revolting in a peaceful and civilized manner have, for so many decades, been oppressed and suppressed by the regimes of authoritarian tyrants who have indulged themselves deeply in corruption and in looting the wealth of their people.

[… …] one demand: peaceful change and the pursuit of free and dignified life in a democratic and civil state governed by the rule of law. […] I, on behalf of the revolutionary youth, pledge to all people in the world that we are committed to peaceful struggle as a strategic option, without deviation or retreat […] until the establishment of a democratic civil state, a state where the rule of law, equality and a peaceful transfer of power prevails.