Shelters for Women in Iraq

As MADRE’s partnership with OWFI continues through the Safe Shelters project, we are grateful to share just some of the meaningful activism you uplifted in 2022. 

• During the first six months of the year, OWFI welcomed 29 survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence into their shelters. Since then, OWFI has continued to enhance physical safety and access to support and reintegration services for survivors and those at risk of gender-based violence. 

• OWFI focused on redressing discrimination experienced by Iraq’s Black community by raising anti-racist awareness among women, men, and youth and supporting leadership and advancement opportunities for Afro-Iraqis, particularly women. OWFI held a conference at its headquarters in March, bringing together academics, activists, and civil society leaders within the Black community. For many in attendance, the conferences were their first opportunity to learn about and discuss racial discrimination. OWFI facilitated discussion and debate among Afro-Iraqis to identify shared priorities and demands for policy change.

OWFI continued its successful efforts to receive survivors of gender-based violence in their shelters, meeting immediate needs and reintegrating survivors into their communities. This vital work was life-sustaining for many women and girls in 2022 and will be for years to come.

Thank you for your generosity and for being part of a global network of feminist activists coming together across distance and difference for a world that promises justice for all people; including women and girls in Iraq. We appreciate you for being an essential part of this movement. 

MADRE’s longtime partner, the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), provides lifesaving assistance by offering protection to women and girls facing gender-based violence, both short-term with safe house shelters and long-term with tools to rebuild their lives. Thanks to your support of MADRE and OWFI, we are grateful to share the below story about three sisters who found peace again.

OWFI welcomed three sisters aged 12, 18, and 24 into their shelter in Iraq after escaping their father’s beatings and sexual assault. When OWFI heard their story, they immediately provided services for them in their shelter. Soon after, their mother informed their father of the girls’ location, so he filed a report in court claiming OWFI had kidnapped his three daughters. He came to OWFI’s headquarters, demanding to get his daughters back and threatening the staff members. OWFI called the community police and asked for a lawyer to join them in a private session with the father. After a two-hour session, where OWFI spoke with the family about the rights of women and girls, the father agreed and signed a pledge to revoke the court’s kidnapping case, let his daughters stay in OWFI’s shelter, and give the girls their documents so they could move freely, and even return to school.

Since their move to the shelter, the sisters have been taking a recovery journey with the help of OWFI. OWFI provides them with medical, psychological, and legal services. They are engaged in the organization’s activities, including participating in recreational events and taking English language classes. According to OWFI’s staff members, the girls’ mental health is improving, but they still have a long way ahead before they can fully recover from their trauma.

With your generous support, OWFI continues to work with women and girls in Iraq, including these three sisters, to fully heal from their past traumas and build a new life – free of violence. Thank you for helping OWFI continue to support survivors of gender-based crimes and create immediate and long-term healing spaces.