Sisters' Stories: Storytelling Sister Sherin thrives after four years of captivity

Over the past few weeks, our ‘Sisters’ Stories’ series has focused on several women and girls whose stories of courage and bravery continue to make our work so worthwhile.

In our final instalment of the year, we’d like to introduce you to Sherin, a 20-year-old ISIS survivor, whose journey has been unimaginably challenging. During the conflict which began in 2014, she was horrifyingly taken prisoner, and like so many other thousands of young women, taken into a life of servitude. Eventually, after four years, Sherin was ‘sold’ by her captors to a relative living within Rwanga camp in Kurdistan, which finally enabled her to escape her tormentors.

Sherin’s devastating ordeal is hard to comprehend, especially as she was just a teenager at the time. When she arrived at the camp, life remained extremely difficult. “Many other members of my family were still in captivity, and I felt very alone,” she recalls. “I was in shock and suffered from deep depression.” 

One by one, Sherin’s family members returned from their time in captivity, but she understandably continued to struggle with the effects of her past trauma. “After hearing that psychosocial support was available at the Lotus Flower centre, I went along, and it really helped me,” she says. “I was treated very well there. I also registered for some of the Lotus Flower courses at the centre, including sports and Storytelling Sisters, where I learned photography skills to document life in camp.”

While taking part in Storytelling Sisters, she and other groups of women and girls learned how to use DLSR cameras and photo editing software, plus how to create video content and use social media platforms to share their work. Thanks to our supporters and project partners, we were able to provide cameras, SD cards and hard drives, and an exhibition was held to showcase their work. 

Thankfully, the support Sherin has received left a big impact on her, and she says: “It made me feel that life was much better, and I could finally get involved in the community again.”