Yanar Mohammed is a women’s rights activist in Iraq. Yanar grew up and was educated in Iraq, but she moved to Canada with her family shortly after she finished her masters in architecture. It would be ten years before she decided to go back, inspired by a need to promote and protect the rights of women in her home country. Backed by several feminist groups in the United States and the United Kingdom, Yanar started a few of her own organizations after she arrived, including the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq and the Committee for the Defense of Iraqi Women’s Rights. Yanar and her groups attempt to end the rampant violence against women by providing safe shelters for them to flee to, by teaching them how to handle situations where they are disrespected or abused, and by working to stop sex trafficking in Iraq. Her work has saved more than thirty women from “honor killings” by helping them leave the country, and she has also brought attention to the horrible conditions incarcerated women were subjected to. The beliefs Yanar and her organizations hold to include democracy, equal rights for the women of Iraq, and the end to a patriarchy-based set of rules and limitations placed on women because of religion. She wants women to be able to go to school, to work, just out about town in safety, without having to fear being harassed or having to ask permission. Iraq still has a long way to go to achieve equality and rights for women, but Yanar Mohammed and the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq are working hard to help get them there, hopefully to make their country a better and more peaceful place.
Today, be inspired to…Don’t give up on your home country. You might hate something about it, but who else is going to change it for the better than the people who live there and care about it? Sometimes you do have to leave but don’t give up hope entirely.
Photo credit: urgentactionfund.org
She Made A Difference 