They live with their families in one of Erbil's two main camps for internally displaced people (IDPs), Baharka and Harsham, having fled Mosul and surrounding towns such as Tal Afar and Sinjar, when the area was captured by Islamic State (IS) in 2014.
The hike is organised by Free to Run, an NGO supporting women and girls in regions of conflict through sport with life-skills training, the chance to make friends, build confidence and reclaim public space in a country where women's rights are lacking.
War magnifies existing inequalities and makes women and girls, in particular, vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Free to Run was established in 2014 and its executive director is Taylor Smith, an American human-rights advocate. The programme has enrolled 30 girls from Baharka and Harsham this year. Smith told me that in their home towns, many of the girls were only allowed to play sport until they reached puberty, when communities and families said it was inappropriate for them to continue”.
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