Liberating ourselves from the concept of ‘virginity’ 

By Rojbîn Arjen Yigit, Volunteer at IKWRO  The fixation with being a ‘virgin’ harms young girls from a young age. Defining a woman’s ‘honour’ by her virginity is a reductive ideology. The Cambridge dictionary defines honour as “a quality that combines respect, being proud and honesty” and therefore for many women, true honour can range from protecting their independence, fighting for their communities freedom, to their right to an education. We must challenge the idea that ‘honour’ is...
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Press Release: IKWRO’s campaigning achieves ban of three harmful practices; child marriage, virginity testing and hymenoplasty

On 28 April 2022, both the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill and the Health and Care Bill gained Royal Assent, between them introducing historic changes in law to ban three harmful practices; child marriage, virginity testing and hymenoplasty. The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill, changes law which had been in place since before the second world-war. It will make eighteen the minimum age for marriage, with no exceptions, and ban all forms of child...
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Virginity Does Not Define Me

IKWRO launches new Virginity Does Not Define Me campaign to challenge the false and harmful notion that virginity is in any way a measure of a girl’s or woman’s worth. The campaign tackles dangerous myths around virginity and calls for a ban of the harmful practices of virginity testing and hymenoplasty, which; perpetuate patriarchal and misogynistic norms, cause trauma and can trigger so-called “honour” based abuse. Read our full report here
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True honour awards 2020-21

IKWRO are delighted to announce the nominees and winners of the True Honour Awards 2020-21. On behalf of IKWRO and all of the judges, we would like to congratulate every nominee for their crucial work to end “honour” based abuse and support survivors. Every single one deserves recognition and praise. Bentley Wood High School Central to Bentley Wood High School’s approach are its core values; Communication, Achievement, Respect, and Empathy. Students become confident, inspiring role models for future...
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Simin Azimi (d. 2021)

It is with great sadness and sorrow that we write that IKWRO-Women’s Rights Organisation’s long-standing Trustee and Board member, Simin Azimi, passed away in January 2021. Alongside her work at IKWRO, Simin was the Director of Refugee Women’s Association (RWA) and worked with refugees and migrants for the past 37 years. I first met Simin at RWA in 2002, when I sought advice regarding my education. I shared with her my passion to establish an organisation to help women and...
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Black lives matter

At IKWRO we are and have always been committed to ending injustice in all forms. The murder of George Floyd by four police officers in the US has sparked a global movement against institutional racism. In a moment of reckoning across society, each and every one of us is being called upon to reflect on our role in reinforcing inequalities that all too often lead to fatal violence against Black men, women and children. While such reflection is...
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COVID-19: Advice for our service users

Dear Service User, In these unprecedented times, we know that Coronavirus is a concern for everyone as it affects all of us: from our lives at home, at work and our friends and families.  We want to let you know what IKWRO-Women’s Rights Organisation are doing to help combat the spread of the virus to support the health and wellbeing of service users and our staff in the services and communities that we work in. We are closely...
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Festive appeal

This festive season, IKWRO is raising money to empower and support women in our specialist refuge for Middle Eastern, North African and Afghan women. We do our best to make sure that the women in our refuge have all the support they need. We provide them with a safe and secure environment, specialist counselling and advice. However, we still have very few resources and would like to be able to provide more. In 2016, with your help, we...
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European Conference 2017

Why every professional needs to be equipped to safeguard against harmful practices What will the conference cover?Hear real case studies from specialist organisations working with women and girls at risk of “Honour” Based Violence, Forced Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation across Europe. Learn about good and bad practice and hear from public sector leaders about the importance of continuing professional training and have opportunities to network. Who should attend? All professionals working with the public including in: HealthMental...
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Why banning the term “honour” based violence and conflating it with domestic violence will put victims at increased risk

The Conservative MP for Wealden, Nusrat Ghani, has proposed, in a new private members Bill – the Crime (Aggravated Murder of and Violence Against Women) Bill – that the use of the widely used and accepted term “honour” killing should be banned from official publications and that this form of violence against women and girls should be conflated with domestic violence. Both of these suggestions would have dangerous consequences for those at risk of “honour” based violence and...
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