Since 2003, the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) has represented a non-compromising feminist voice to challenge the growing patriarchal, tribal, and religious institutions gaining ground in Iraq, and to combat the rise of the misogynistic groups like ISIS.

We are anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, and staunchly feminist. 

OWFI's activities operate on three levels:

1. Immediate protecting and
empowering individual women

We shelter women in safe houses and or/rooms and help them rebuild their lives, while training those who are interested to become feminist leaders.

2. Shifting social norms

We produce media content to shift public attitudes towards opposing patriarchy and supporting women's rights.

3. Reforming the legal system

We monitor, document and raise awareness to change laws, practices and policies that compromise women’s safety, freedom and dignity.

All these components of our work are interdependent on each other in the effort to redress the extensive violence against the women of Iraq. Click on each activity to learn more, or visit our "On the Ground" section for more information about our efforts in the region.

OWFI ON THE GROUND

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How OWFI Came To Be

A group of Iraqi women met in Toronto in 1998 under the name Defense of Iraqi Women’s Rights (DIWR) and devised a mandate for defending Iraqi women’s rights from being fully aborted by the growing extremist patriarchal practices in Iraq since the US sanctions in 1991.

The subsequent 2003 American invasion and occupation of Iraq was a shocking moment of urgency that compelled one of the organizers, Yanar Mohammed, to travel to Iraq and found the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI).

On June 22, 2003 we launched our founding event in Al Hiwar Art Gallery in Baghdad’s Al Waziriya neighbourhood. Eventually we registered with the coalition provisional authorities as ‘NGO 567’.