Sawsan Salim looked quietly devastated as she told me about her colleague, a women’s rights activist, who was assassinated in Baghdad on 2 March. She spoke with the fiery passion of a lifelong political campaigner.
“Slaves have it much better than women in Iraq,” she said. “There is even child marriage and women have no rights to child custody.”
Sawsan is originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, and is the director of the Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women’s Organisation (KMEWO), which provides advice, education, and financial support to Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) women.
Sawsan said: “I was new to this country. When I came here in 1994, I started to be a voice for the Kurdish people, and people encouraged me to start an organisation.”
Many of the MENA women she helps came to the UK on spousal visas and cannot speak English. This makes them vulnerable to coercion from their husbands.
Language and understanding the system are massive issues in the Kurdish community. When you move to this country, you have to understand the system.
Sawsan Salim
Starting out as a campaigning organisation, KMEWO now provides holistic services to women and aims to bring people together with community events.
“The best way to communicate with people is to party. Kurdish people, they like music, and Kurdish dress, and dancing,” she said. “We have to build trust between us and society. We have links with mosques. We do training on domestic violence.”
On 20 March, KMEWO and Islington Council are hosting a Nawroz event at the Assembly Hall. Open to the public, it will be attended by Islington Council and the Mayor.
Nawroz is the Persian New Year, a festival that marks not just the arrival of spring, but also renewal, hope, and the promise of new beginnings. This year, however, celebrations will be muted due to the current war in the Middle East.
“There will be no music and dance this year because of what is happening in Iran,” Sawsan said. “The whole country is on fire.”
Sam is an MA Newspaper Journalism student, news blogger, and freelance writer who has previously written for Spiked.