Who IKWRO helps#
IKWRO, the IKWRO Women's Rights Organisation, works with Middle Eastern, North African and Afghan women and girls living in the UK. Its staff speak Farsi, Kurdish, Arabic, Dari, Pashto, Turkish and English. It gives confidential advice on honour-based abuse, forced and child marriage, female genital mutilation, domestic abuse, separation and divorce, arrangements for children, housing and benefits. It says it is not affiliated with any religion or political party, and that it never mediates with abusers, families or community members.
Its advocates can go with women to appointments, write letters, and give expert evidence in court cases such as asylum appeals, child arrangements and applications for non-molestation or forced marriage protection orders.
Its refuge and counselling#
IKWRO runs a refuge for Middle Eastern, North African and Afghan women at risk of honour-based or domestic abuse, with help on benefits, health, legal advice and moving on. Its counselling is free for women and girls of 14 or older affected by gender-based violence, with up to 20 weekly sessions in English, Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi or Dari, across London.
Its website in October 2026#
IKWRO's website showed only an empty server page on 22 and again on 26 October 2026, so we could not read its current pages. What we describe here comes from copies of its pages archived between May 2025 and September 2026, its entry on the register of charities, and Imkaan's list of member services, which includes it. Services and contact routes may have changed since, so check with IKWRO before relying on them.
Names and documents#
IKWRO published nothing on changing your name. If you are thinking about it, the main facts are these. From 16 your name is your own decision, and a deed you write yourself is not filed or advertised. Enrolment, by contrast, ends in a public notice in The Gazette. And a UK deed poll does not change a passport from another country: only that country can, and an eVisa follows the passport, so start there.
Where to look next#
- Can I use a UK deed poll for a passport from another country?
- Changing your name if you are not a British citizen.
- Imkaan: the national body for services led by and for Black and minoritised women.
- Charities that help after domestic abuse.
This page describes what IKWRO published on its website, from archived copies read on 26 October 2026 while its live site was unavailable. IKWRO has not reviewed it, and listing it here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
