Lotus Flower women and girls #ChooseToChallenge inequality this IWD

To mark International Women’s Day 2021, women and girls supported by the Lotus Flower #ChooseToChallenge the gender barriers and inequalities which have impacted on their lives for years.

Raising a hand in the face of discrimination, violence and human rights violation, the women and girls we work with are joining millions of others around the world in calling for an urgent acceleration of gender equality.

As we strive towards making our world more inclusive for everyone, those we support are also choosing today to celebrate their achievements – which have all been made possible thanks to Lotus Flower supporters.

Take Haifa, who lives in the Essyan refugee camp in Kurdistan. Originally from Sinjar, she badly struggled with the aftermath of the ISIS attacks of 2014, which left her homeless and facing a life of poverty. But with the support of our team, Haifa has been able to empower herself by learning English, and participating in awareness sessions on topics like gender-based violence and women’s rights. She says: “I choose to challenge injustice through learning and improving myself. Thanks to the Lotus Flower I can continue to learn these new skills so that I will be able to create a better future for myself.”

This year’s International Women’s Day is all the more symbolic as it falls on the fifth anniversary of the Lotus Flower’s launch,  which took place on IWD in 2016. “We’ve come such a long way in those five years,” says founder Taban Shoresh. “To date, we’ve directly impacted on more than 30,000 women and girl ISIS survivors, empowering them to learn new skills, start female-led businesses and overcome unimaginable trauma. 

“There’s still so much to do, but we can’t wait to see what we might achieve over the next five years. The pandemic has made things incredibly tough for us as a small charity, so we welcome any financial support to help future proof the Lotus Flower, and allow thousands more women and girls to overcome their biggest challenges in the coming months.”