In any conflict, women and girls are known to suffer most, and displacement worsens pre-existing patterns of discrimination. This exposes them to heightened risks of human rights violations, including rape, slavery, trafficking, forced marriage and sexual violence, which all increase as a result of conflict, as well as torture and even murder. In addition, girls living in conflict-afflicted countries have less opportunity to go to school or seek employment.
We run regular awareness sessions on topics focused around human, legal and women’s rights, as well as those related to employment and educational opportunities. These sessions are very popular and women and girls feel safe to engage in settings where conversation and dialogue across divides is encouraged. We have also launched programming to mitigate early childhood marriage, sexual and gender-based violence, and domestic violence. Additionally, all of our projects are underpinned by the principles of gender equality.
While we fundamentally believe in empowering women and girls so that they understand and demand their right, we also involve men and boys in our awareness sessions, as we believe they must play a part in achieving a fairer, more just society.
CASE STUDY
Haifa came to live in Essyan camp after the ISIS attacks, which left her homeless and facing a life of poverty. But with the support of our team, Haifa has been able to learn English and participate in awareness sessions on human 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.”