IKWRO — women's rights organisation for Middle Eastern and Afghan communities

IKWRO (the Centre for Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation, trading as RoWR/IKWRO) is a London-based charity supporting women and girls from Middle Eastern, North African and Afghan communities who face domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based abuse and FGM. It provides caseworkers who understand both the family court process and the community pressures that make these cases dangerous.

REVIEWED BY: Sean McNamara on 2026-09-01

What IKWRO is

IKWRO was founded in 2002 and is based in London (registered as a charity in England and Wales). It provides specialist advice and advocacy in Farsi/Dari, Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish and English, supports hundreds of women each year with casework (protective orders, housing, immigration linked to abuse), and campaigns on honour-based abuse — including a leading role in the campaign that created the offence of forced marriage and improved police responses.

What help it offers

Advice and advocacy for women experiencing domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based abuse, FGM, child marriage and "virginity testing" — including help with non-molestation and occupation orders, forced marriage protection orders, housing and refuge referral.
Interpreting and culturally specific casework in community languages.
Support with immigration-linked abuse — where a woman's leave to remain depends on the relationship, IKWRO helps with the domestic abuse routes (including the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession and destitution domestic violence concession applications).
Professional training for police, courts, social services and schools.
Campaigns and research on honour-based abuse and FGM.

How a self-representing woman can use IKWRO

1. Protective orders with cultural context. If your family or community is pressuring you — around divorce, partner choice, or your children's upbringing — IKWRO caseworkers help evidence the risk in terms the family court recognises under Practice Direction 12J, and support FL401 applications. 2. FL401 and without-notice applications. Caseworkers routinely support women applying for non-molestation and occupation orders, including where community reporting makes local services unsafe to use. 3. Children cases. IKWRO understands how honour-based dynamics affect child arrangements (including risks around travel abroad) — relevant to prohibited steps orders and passport safeguards. 4. Refuge and housing. Culturally appropriate refuge referral where mainstream services may be exposed to community contact.

IKWRO is a support and advocacy charity, not a law firm; for representation combine its casework with a legal aid family solicitor. In an emergency always call 999.

Contact details

Website: https://ikwro.org.uk
Advice line: see https://ikwro.org.uk for the current number and hours (listed on the site's contact page — check before relying on any number quoted elsewhere)
Address: London-based; contact details via the website

Useful links

IKWRO: https://ikwro.org.uk
Karma Nirvana (honour-based abuse helpline, national): see our Karma Nirvana listing
Forced Marriage Unit: https://www.gov.uk/forced-marriage
Our guides: FL401 domestic abuse, honour-based abuse, FMPO step-by-step

This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws, procedures and contact details change — verify anything important against the official sources linked above before relying on it. Your Family Case is an independent directory listing; we take no referral fees and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or receiving payment from any organisation listed.

Content verified against the official HMCTS court directory, gov.uk forms and fees pages, and the professional body registers (SRA, FMC, Bar Council). Last reviewed September 2026.