Newroz Dijwar/JINHA

SULAYMANIYAH - Trauma expert and feminist Ulrike Held has called for the situation of Êzidî women to be at the top of the agenda for women.

Ulrike Held is a German psychologist and trauma expert. She has been visiting the camps in the city of Sulaymaniyah, in the Federal Kurdistan Region in Iraq. Êzidî women in the camps have escaped from captivity after being kidnapped by Daesh.

"Women of the world need to stand up for Êzidî women and hear their voices," said Ulrike. Ulrike serves on the European delegation of the World Women's Congress. She intends to raise the issue of Êzidî women at the congress.

Ulrike spoke with our agency about her observations at the camps. She said that humanitarian conditions were poor. Women live without electricity and clean water.

The psychologist criticized projects aiming to relocate the women in Europe. "Daesh's goal was to belittle women and take away their value in people's eyes," said Ulrike. She said that to fight back against this, it was necessary for the women to be treated within their own societies.

"We know the games the powerful play. They want to erase people's cultures in the name of helping them. They want to integrate them into their own system. We have to help these people in their own land," she said. "Families need to embrace these women, not distance them from society. This is what will save the women from this trauma. In addition, the liberation of Shengal would help these women overcome their trauma."

Ulrike intends to bring other trauma experts to the camps and to share her observations internationally.

(fk/cm)