The LWF supports women who have survived sexual and gender-based violence
A listening ear, support groups, legal counsellors and the skills to earn their own money. For many women and girls in Iraq, this kind of intervention means a choice between continuing to live in a violent family or partnership, or starting a new life free from violence. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), together with the local Baghdad Women’s Association (BWA), offers support to those who have survived sexual and gender-based violence.
Millions of refugees and displaced persons
The Lutheran World Federation has been working in Iraq since 2014, supporting internally displaced people, the communities that host them, and Syrian refugees. As of September 2020, there are still almost 6.5 million people in Iraq who need humanitarian assistance, including 1.35 million internally displaced persons and 4.7 million people who have returned home. The political and security situation in Iraq remains unstable, further aggravated by COVID-19.
The BWA centre offers support groups and various training. Photo: LWF/H. Muhammed
“The situation is especially terrible for women and children. It involves human trafficking, child marriage, forced marriage, honour killings, female genital mutilation and the double discrimination faced by those who have survived sexual and gender-based violence. Many of these problems have become more frequent during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Caroline Tveoy, LWF World Service regional programme coordinator for the Middle East.
The LWF has focused its work on preventing and responding to gender-based violence. To reach hard-to-reach communities and individuals, the LWF works with local partners, including the Baghdad Women’s Association (BWA) https://www.bwa iraq.org/. With the support of the LWF and other partners, the BWA provides psychosocial and legal counselling to women and girls who have suffered gender-based violence, through five counselling centres in Baghdad, Nineveh and Dohuk.
In their own homes, women have lived in difficult conditions, and this continues to affect them even after displacement. /Huda RAFID, social worker at the BWA centre in Siji, Dohuk Governorate/
Violence even before displacement
For many of the women who visit these centres, abuse did not begin when they were displaced in 2014. “Already in their own homes, women have lived in difficult conditions, and this continues to affect them even after displacement,” says Huda Rafid, a social worker at the BWA centre in Siji, Dohuk Governorate.
A safe place to meet and talk, but also an opportunity – at the BWA centres you can learn about places where you can obtain documents, food vouchers and even legal advice. Photo: LWF/H. Muhammed
The centre in Siji offers women a safe space. Psychological and legal support is offered here, as well as the development of economic opportunities through small grants and cash-for-work. In recent months, information seminars on COVID-19 were also held at the centre.
Other centres also provide awareness-raising seminars on reproductive health, meetings with service providers, as well as gender-based violence seminars for men. They also distribute hygiene kits to help vulnerable families protect themselves from COVID-19.
“I have been coming here for two years now to receive support,” says Nora F., a housewife from the Dohuk region. “It has been good for my mental health and my wellbeing.”
Remonda has also received vocational training and legal support. “It helped me to grow and develop my abilities here,” she says.
Recently the BWA launched a referral system. It enables them, with the women’s consent, to turn to the state health care system and other services. Referral support includes ID, a food and housing card, a passport, humanitarian assistance and monthly allowances for widows and orphans.
COVID-19 and domestic violence
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the BWA’s work more complicated and more essential. With domestic violence cases on the rise, the Baghdad Women’s Association has provided psychosocial services to women and girls remotely, using Skype, WhatsApp and Zoom. They also set up a health information campaign on Facebook, featuring short videos on proper hygiene and physical distancing. The BWA has also produced brochures and information about COVID-19 and how to protect against the virus.
The work that the LWF and the BWA do together is also supported by the English-speaking Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Geneva (ELCG). “Every year our congregation holds a Harvest Festival, when we raise funds for one or more projects outside the congregation. It is a way of expressing gratitude and giving to others,” says ELCG pastor Andy Willis.
“We are all very concerned about the rise in sexual violence and gender-based violence during the pandemic, and it is important for us to support the work of the BWA and the LWF. Their work in preventing and responding to violence throughout Iraq inspires us. We thank them.”
LWF/C. Kästner
Source: Lutheran World Federation news
Photo: LWF/H. Muhammed