The Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO) is a registered charity which was established in 2002 by our director Diana Nammi in partnership with other refugee women from Iran, Iraq and Kurdistan
Our mission is to preserve Middle Eastern (Iranian, Kurdish, Afghan, Turkish and Arab) women’s and girls’ rights and equality, to combat discrimination and violence against women, and to empower women to access their rights and entitlements in the UK. We are not affiliated with any religion or political ideology and we help women of all backgrounds.
IKWRO began as a self-help group for women and developed into a formally constituted organisation in August 2002. We became a registered charity in July 2004, aiming to provide advice and support to Iranian and Kurdish women living in the UK and affected by forced marriage, ‘honour’ based violence, female genital mutilation and domestic abuse. We have since extended our services to meet the needs of Arab, Afghan and Turkish women. Our staff can speak Farsi, Kurdish, Dari, Pashto, Arabic, Turkish and English.
Each year, the demand for IKWRO’s services continues to grow and last year we helped over 1700 women with advice, advocacy, emotional support and referrals to other services such as housing associations and legal aid.
As well as supporting women directly, we offer advice and training to professionals from the public and voluntary sector to enable them to meet the needs of our clients. We also campaign to raise awareness of issues such as ‘honour’ based violence and to push for better laws and policies to protect women’s rights.
