The United Nations trust Fund to end violence against women (UN Trust Fund) supports The free Yazidis Foundation (FYF), an independent non-profit organization that provides services to the Yazidis community, including women survivors of violence, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

27-year-old Pari Ibrahim, founder and Executive Director of FYF, told the UN trust Fund about the situation of Yazidis and the work of the Fund.

"My people suffered a lot at the hands of ISIS. If you were a man, you'd be shot. If you were a woman, you were taken as a sex slave to Mosul in Iraq or Raqqa in Syria. These women have suffered enormous injuries. They were raped many times a day by different men.

 That's why I set up a free Fund for Yazidis to try to help get help for women and girls so they can start living their lives again like they used to.”

Pari Ibrahim described how ISIS attacked Yazidis civilians in Sinjar, Northern Iraq, in August 2014. During the attack, he said, Yazidi women and girls were captured and sold as sex slaves in markets in Iraq and Syria, and that thousands of Yazidi women are still held captive by ISIS, mainly in Syria.

"Where I come from, people don't see a doctor about mental health... so I thought we should provide post-traumatic trauma specialists from outside Iraq so that women and girls can talk to them without shame and further stigmatization.”

Fund "free Yazidis" opened women's center, which provides access to the psychologist and the program of traumatology. The centre also conducts classes in music, art and language in an effort to reduce stress and helps women prepare for employment by learning the skills of obtaining a livelihood.

"At first we saw these women and girls just sitting in the house, doing nothing, not going back to society, because they were ashamed of what happened to them. We do not condemn them. They're victims of sexual assault, rape.

"Deep inside the victim is very much suffering because of the social stigma attached to it, which implies that maybe it's their fault that they're not virgins, that they can't get married. In the beginning, especially, many of these women and girls committed suicide.

"The UN trust Fund allowed us to get two psychologists from the UK. I didn't want women to feel worthless, and I wanted them to share their experiences with someone who would allow them to Express their feelings.

“In one year, two years, a lot of changes with these women and girls who went to the psychologist. We see them more active, we see them in groups, you see them making friends, and that's a huge difference. We see women and girls holding their heads up, not down. We have more than 100 women actively participating in the three-month course. For women and girls who need further treatment after three months, we have the opportunity for them to come back every Thursday to talk to a psychologist.

"By bringing women and girls to the center, visiting their homes, talking to their families, I see that women and girls become much stronger, much healthier because they Express what they feel. Our center is a safe place and shelter. Outside the center is full of flowers and drawings that attract the attention of women and girls as a safe place. All of our staff are IDPs themselves [internally displaced persons] who are trained in first aid.

“One of the first things we ask when women come in is how they feel. At the end of the three-month course, how do they feel then? Are they happier? Are they more sociable? Do they like to participate in events? Are they talking about their problems?”

Pari Ibrahim summed up the goals and achievements of the Fund:

"We, as a Fund of free Yezidis, led by Yezidis, led by women, show them the possibilities. They say they feel comfortable and that we can help them build a future and build a new life.”