Our Boxing Sisters project was originally set up with the help of Cathy Brown, a retired professional British boxer and certified Cognitive Behaviour Therapist. Inspired by Cathy, the boxing and self-defence taught by our trainers teaches girls about strategy and focus, relieves stress and increases their confidence as well as physical strength. By learning self-defence techniques, women and girls feel more secure knowing that they can protect themselves.

As one of our newest projects, Peace Sisters provides women and girls with training so that they can lead peace processes and take a more active role in rebuilding their fractured communities. Although there are other projects on the ground that foster peacebuilding and social cohesion, we believe Peace Sisters is one of the first to train women to become mediators, peace defenders and active community leaders.

What started as a small project, utilising the talents of a few skilled bakers amongst the women is going to develop into a longer term cafe project, to build a more extensive community space that will help foster relationships, confidence and community spirit.

First launched as a pilot in Spring 2019, the Lotus Flower’s Storytelling Sisters project provides an educational platform for local women to learn a combination of photography and creative writing skills, enabling them to share their experiences through photos and stories. The project aims to provide marketable skills and facilitate improved mental health outcomes through shared experiences and community support.

Since 2016 we have been working with a team of pro-bono international lawyers at Hogan Lovells to pursue civil litigation cases for women ISIS survivors. The move is aimed at finally bringing Islamic State fighters to justice, while delivering compensation to female Yazidi survivors in northern Iraq.

We want to teach women to sew and weave in order to learn the skills to earn a living one-day to support themselves and their families.The Lotus Flower will be working with Yazidi women in Kurdistan region of Iraq. The atrocities Yazidi women have faced hit the headlines in August 2014, and are still doing so today.

The Lotus Flower will soon be launching our new livelihood programme, Hairdressing Sisters, to further economic and employment opportunities for displaced women in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The majority of camp residents are Yezidi and have a farming background that spans generations. As the women’s centre includes a plot of unused land, we wanted to facilitate an opportunity for women to use skills that have been taught to them by their ancestors while also providing an income to support their families. The women have recently started to garden and plant seasonal vegetables.