Delkhwaz Hacity - an activist for persecuted minorities

Delkhwaz Haciy was born in northern Iraq, and her family moved to Sweden when she was nine.  The Yazidis in Kurdish Northern Iraq were persecuted, and her family decided to flee Iraq.  They were one of the first families to flee and settle in Sweden. When she was growing up, her family protected her from these stories of horror and desecration of her religion. 

Growing up in Sweden, she had little contact with her religion, an ancient monotheistic faith (thought to be based on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), with an oral tradition passed down through the family and community. Although she had a vague knowledge of the religion, she never understood the hatred toward the Yazidis, especially among the Muslims, who thought of them as devil worshippers. The continual genocide against them made them an insular culture and a closed community. 

When ISIS attacked in 2014, Delkhwaz said it was a typical day in Sweden.  They began to hear from relatives about the terrible genocide.  They fled for their lives and could not contact their relatives. A particular story of a young girl forced Delkhwaz to come face to face with her religion – it became personal.  The young girl was raped several times daily by multiple men and severely beaten.  She was so moved by the story that she determined she would become an advocate for the protection of the Yazidis and other persecuted minorities. 

Learning of a new organization in Sweden to support the Yazidis, she immediately submitted her application.  She became a Yazda Board Member in Sweden. As a law graduate, she quickly became a human rights activist and an advocate. Yazda is an NGO that advocates and offers programs and services to aid and enable survivors of genocide in Iraq.  Currently, she works in Iraq for a global organization to determine reparations for those who have faced persecution.

She aims to bring justice, sustenance, healing, and rejuvenation to the Yazidis. They have suffered and are affected by the Islamic State's campaign of genocide against the Yazidis.  She is inspired by the strength of the Yazidi people and their resilience through the multiple decades and centuries of persecution.