The extremist group ISIL is going door to door, abducting, enslaving and repeatedly raping girls and young women in Iraq. Those who manage to escape are often the sole survivors of their families, alone in unfamiliar towns. But CODEPINK, MADRE and local partners in Iraq are there for them. We’re opening a brand new shelter and rape crisis center for young girls who have escaped sexual slavery. Here, they will find safe haven, urgently needed care, and lasting support to rebuild their lives.
Since its invasion of northern Iraq in 2014, ISIL fighters have systematically raped and kidnapped girls and young women into sexual slavery. They have taken sex slaves so young they haven’t yet reached puberty, causing some girls to sustain injuries so severe they need reconstructive surgery to fully recover. If survivors of this violence seize the chance to escape, many are left with nothing—no family, home or belongings. These girls and women with literally nowhere to go are in urgent need of shelter, trauma counseling and medical care.
CODEPINK is partering with our longtime ally MADRE and local partners in Iraq to show that these girls and young women are not alone. We’re fundraising to open a brand new shelter and rape crisis center near a refugee camp for survivors of other massacres. Here, girls who have bravely escaped sexual slavery by ISIL will receive food, clothing, trauma counseling, shelter and medical care. This safe haven will offer these survivors the urgent aid they need to heal from their traumas.
The center will do more than meet pressing needs for medical care, food and shelter. It will offer counseling, mentorship, literacy programs, job training and human rights education. These programs give girls the tools and skills they need to rebuild their lives, in a supportive, loving environment. Young girls who have survived abduction, repeated rape and enslavement by ISIL will finally remember what it feels like to feel secure and to imagine a safer, happier future.
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Your generous donation is needed and appreciated!
$25 will help provide pillows, blankets and sheets for one woman in the shelter
$50 will provide new clothing for one woman in the shelter
$200 will provide one month’s food supply for 8 women
$400 will help cover medical expenses for one woman
$1,500 will cover one month’s rent for the shelter
$2,000 will cover one year of trauma counseling for survivors of sexual slavery