When a community breaks down, women face a heightened risk of exploitation, abuse and violence, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has found.

They also form the majority of displaced populations and often see their vulnerabilities increased, the agency says.

But far from being helpless victims, women and girls have much to contribute in responding to these crises.

That’s also the belief of Mina Jaf, founder and Director of Women Refugee Route (WRR), an NGO that focuses on women and girl refugees' access to information on their rights.

She was at the UN in New York for an IOM event entitled “Amplifying women’s voices from the displacement Global Crisis”.

A former refugee from Kurdistan herself, Ms Jaf told May Yaacoub how she fled to Denmark with her family at 11.

Duration: 2’38”