IROKO ONLUS was founded in November 1998 with these principal aims:

  1. the need to address the difficulties of finding jobs for women which allow them to exit prostitution and integrate into society
  2. a need for a safe place where people could come and speak to people like themselves and have things explained to them in their own language
  3. the need for a space where migrant women’s cultural differences were valued and allowed to be used to provide support and solutions to their problems

IROKO started, therefore, by providing shelters and economic assistance to victims of trafficking brought into Italy and exploited in prostitution, as well as general assistance to immigrants, including:

  • Shelters for the victims of trafficking and violence
  • Temporary economic assistance
  • Assistance in the search for employment and housing
  • Psychological support and ethno-clinical Cultural Mediation
  • Supporting access to and accompanying people to social and health services
  • Specialised medical assistance, in collaboration with volunteer doctors and medical specialists
  • Legal consultancy and information on immigration issues, residence permits and visas, and on civil and penal rights
  • Translation of documents 

To learn more about Iroko’s founder and the story of the organisation’s creation, click here.