Refugee Week: Helena Hassani - Founder of Boland Parwaz

For Refugee Week 2025, Women in Global Health – Australia is proud to launch a special profiling series highlighting the voices and leadership of refugee women. Through the stories of two remarkable women driving change in gender and health, we celebrate resilience, advocacy, and impact.

Committee member Prof Jaya Dantas interviewed Helena Hassani, Founder of Boland Parwaz and a passionate advocate for modern slavery and forced slavery.

Trigger warning: This profile contains references to forced marriage and slavery, which may be distressing for some readers. Please take care while reading and seek support if needed.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I'm a health scientist, a social worker and a human rights advocate by profession. I've got my Bachelor of Health Science and Social Work and Master’s in human rights law from Monash University. I am the founder and Executive Director of my company, Boland Parwaz, which means ‘flying high’ in Farsi. It aims to target young girls' empowerment.  I believe that if we give girls the full opportunities, they will fly as high as they want to. I'm also a research assistant with the Anti-Slavery Australia at the University of Technology Sydney. Apart from that, I'm a practice lead at Drummond St Services, working with families who are being affected by issues like housing, financial issues, mental health and family violence. I am one of the recipients of Echoing Green Fellowship from the US and silver medal winner of the Women Changing the World Award in 2024. I also facilitate a men’s behaviour change programme against family violence at Intouch Multicultural Centre in Melbourne. I am also a Waratah Fellows with the Office of NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner. I am originally from Afghanistan and have lived in Australia since 2009.

What is your role now and what was your journey to work in the intersection of gender and health?

I think as a young child, I was always interested in understanding why there is a massive power imbalance between genders in our communities, especially in the refugee community. Generally speaking, it affects everyone. It doesn't matter which culture, religion or part of the world you are. Gender inequality is always there. But I used to see that a lot within families, where decision makers were males, and females were just going ahead with whatever the man was deciding. I was getting furious. Why is this happening when, according to religion, God says that men and women are equal in everything? I just don't see that equality, and that has a significant negative impact on women's ability to make decisions and live their lives to their full potential. I also used to see how boys at a very young age were being prioritised in terms of their education opportunities, and girls are OK if they don't go to school…I was getting really frustrated at that. You should treat both girls and boys equally!

Could you say explain what encompasses modern slavery and forced marriage? What is the situation like in Australia?

Modern slavery is very general and broad. It includes forced marriage, deceptive recruitment, domestic servitude, debt bondage and trafficking. I know that many girls are being deceptively recruited for different jobs and are stuck in debt bondage situations. I came across women who are doctors, lawyers, dentists, engineers and educated with PhDs from various countries like Afghanistan, India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Iran and Pakistan who were trapped in fake marriages. Their husbands may already have a wife and family here, but because of the dowry, they marry the women and bring them here where they experience all types of modern slavery especially domestic servitude. They’re often not allowed to sleep, eat at the same table as the family, and have to clean the house or after every meal. There are other cases that I hear that are mind-blowing. Here in Melbourne, in Sydney, Canberra, and South Australia. 

What is the favourite thing about what you do?

My favourite thing about what I do is seeing girls rise. I see women being empowered, and I see women taking control of what they want to do in life and how they want to live their lives. I see the transformation in real life because I do a lot of advocacy, I do a lot of awareness workshops, and I can see the impact that I'm having on the lives of other women who are being marginalised and are always looked down upon.

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Could you tell us a little bit about the challenges you faced that brought you on this journey and how you overcame them?

I think the challenge that brought me to this journey was my own story, where I experienced child and forced marriage, and it took me years to get out of that relationship. I had to go through so much trauma, so much unfairness before I finally reclaimed my freedom. It was very costly, but it was worth it. I don't want this to happen to any girl or woman, so I got into this field and started my own advocacy through Boland Parwaz. In other words, my own experiences shaped where I am now. 

What gaps do you see in regards to your work in gender and women in health broadly?

There are a lot of gaps that women and girls fall into. Firstly, the system is not made to support women. We know that financially, a lot of women are not established enough to live a life free of violence or live the way that they want to live. Secondly, women haven’t had the opportunities to be independent: to have their own income, the mental capacity, or the self-confidence to make decisions about their own lives. Thirdly, the system always fails women. Whether we talk about the legal system or others, we know that the system favours men. We have systemic failure or systematic gaps in our support systems. For example, visas are a massive issue. Many women cannot seek support because of their visa status or needing to be a citizen or permanent resident to get support. These are all gaps that women face in my field that I work in.

What do you believe are the most pressing issues for women in global health?

I think the most pressing issue is currently housing. If you don't have a shelter over your head, you cannot leave any situation. This is not only in Australia, but we know that there's a housing crisis everywhere in the world. If we solve the housing problem, then we know that a lot of these gender inequalities, these health issues that women are facing, won't exist. We know that in a lot of countries, women have no control over their own bodies, whether they want to have kids, whether they want to have abortion, you cannot or do not have the right to choose. In Afghanistan, for example, women are not allowed to leave their homes and are completely restricted from outings. They can't use mobile phones. Their voices shouldn't be heard in public.  They're not allowed to go to school. They're not, in fact, being considered as human beings. Further, if you want to have a better future, we know that education is key. We need to allow the girls to go to school, to be educated, and access higher education. When we have educated women, we have an educated society, we will have a better future for the entire world. 

What are your dreams about women in global health in general? 

My dream is to have a future where girls are free of forced marriage, modern slavery, health issues, and gender discrimination and inequalities. A future where girls and boys are being treated equally. That's my dream.