MIDDLE EASTERN WOMEN AND SOCIETY ORGANISATION
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : o****e@m***o.o*g
Mission Statement
The Middle Eastern Women and Society organisation’s (MEWSo) mission is to support and empower BME women in London to rebuild their lives. Our mission is to work to prevent and end violence and abuse against women as well as providing services to meet the needs of survivors. Our work is holistic and empowering, working alongside survivors to achieve independent lives free from abuse. Our mission is to promote and facilitate equality, integration, community cohesion and cross-cultural understanding. MEWSo’s vision is of a society where every woman lives in safety with equal rights and equal opportunities and in which diversity is considered an element of strength and not of division.
About This Cause
The Middle Eastern Women and Society Organisation (MEWSo) was established in 2010 by the Director and Founder, Halaleh Taheri. Halaleh was born in Iran and was part of the 1979 revolution in Iran against the Islamic Republic and fought for the independence of Kurdistan. Halaleh was forced to flee Iran to Iraq where she lived for 11 years until 1992 when the Gulf War broke out. Halaleh was forced again to flee to Syria, then Turkey to seek asylum from the United Nations before finally being given asylum in Sweden. Halaleh decided to move to London in 2005, where she later founded MEWSo and built another life for herself. MEWSo is a grassroots, user-led charity that is driven by the passion and determination to uphold BME women’s rights. We reject every form of gender discrimination and support BME women to rebuild their lives in London. Our aim is not only to support BME women but empower them to thrive. MEWSo is unique in that it provides holistic support to any woman seeking help. This is because MEWSo knows that women that come to our organisation often have complex needs and therefore we consider the whole person when we offer her support. A service user can get emotional support through our counselling and mindfulness programme, informational support through our advice service and training workshops, companionship support through our befriending and social clubs, physical health support through our exercise classes and career support through our one-to-one English language scheme, volunteering programme and employment advice service. Over the last year MEWSo has had a number of key achievements such as expanding our service to the borough of Westminster and securing an office space in Church Street Ward in order to support BME women on their doorstep. In addition one of MEWSo’s most dedicated ex-service users, who previously experienced domestic violence, won Voluntary Action Islington's Volunteer of the Year Award in 2018, making it the second year running that we have won the award. Halaleh is currently working to promote the ‘Polygamy Matters’ campaign and raise awareness of the injustices faced by women in polygamous relationships in the UK. MEWSo recently published the ‘Polygamy Pilot Project’ report (which can be found on our website) showing the impact of polygamy on women and highlighting the lack of services that adequately support these women. Despite being a small charity, MEWSo is passionate about supporting and changing the lives of BME displaced women. We strongly believe that every BME woman has the right to live in safety and have equal opportunities. If you also believe this, then please donate to our charity and be the one to proactively create change in our society.