A YEAR OF EMPOWERING CHANGE
The difference we made together in 2023
Introduction
2023 saw a renewed sense of compassion, courage and resolve at Freedom from Torture.
It was a year of survivor agency on the march. Of survivors in the driving seat. And of our growing movement standing together and speaking out for what is right in the face of cruel and inhumane policies affecting the lives of people who have survived torture.
Read below to see our big wins from this past year.
1. Our rehabilitation services helped survivors begin the painful process of recovering from the pain caused by torture.
2. The Supreme Court blocked the Rwanda 'cash-for-humans' scheme on the basis that Rwanda is not a safe third country.
3. This year, our models of Empowerment spread across the world.
None of this work would be possible without you.
But we can only see one in three of the torture survivors referred to Freedom from Torture for clinical therapy. Time is of the essence in dealing with trauma.
Please join us in fighting for a world without torture, and help support torture survivors live for the future, not in the past.
1. Our services are shaped by survivors
"I was nearly on the edge of my life, but after coming to Freedom from Torture I started to feel, in spite of the flashbacks and past memories, I wanted to live. Coming and seeing my therapist made me feel good."
- Krish, Survivor of torture
Empowering survivors to rebuild their lives
In 2023, we conducted a clinical review survey to ensure survivors were central to the design of service improvements.
Arriving in a foreign country after the terrifying ordeal of torture is a deeply traumatic experience. Navigating the complexities of the UK asylum system is emotionally and physically exhausting. Moreover, many survivors urgently need mental and physical care and support to begin the healing process.
With so many regressive changes to accommodation arrangements and the system for processing asylum claims, the immediate needs of survivors are changing. This is why, in 2023, we undertook a wide-ranging clinical survey in partnership with survivors to better understand our service users’ experiences of our face-to-face and remote clinical services.
The survey has been crucial to ensuring that improvements to our services are co-designed and relevant to survivors. Information will be used to inform changes to our clinical pathway from 2024 and will improve the quality of care that we are able to provide survivors of torture.
Supporting fellow survivors
Our survivor-led London stabilisation group, ‘Finding Our Ground’, went from strength to strength this year, with more survivors than ever working with new clients to provide a safe space to start their journey to recovery.
It is a great example of how survivors are leading the way in delivering services that have a real impact on our clients’ ability to feel safe and secure again. The stabilisation process lasts roughly 9 weeks, with each week dedicated to a different topic relating to how survivors can support themselves.
It is an important part of our clinical pathway and the recovery journey for a survivor.
"It makes such a difference, when someone has lived experience of torture themselves. It is very powerful and inspirational. Seeing that [the co-facilitator with lived experience] has been through torture herself and has survived and continued to rebuild her life and her education." - Freedom from Torture client
713
survivors received life changing holistic rehabilitation services.
Empowering survivors to rebuild their lives
In 2023, we conducted a clinical review survey to ensure survivors were central to the design of service improvements.
Arriving in a foreign country after the terrifying ordeal of torture is a deeply traumatic experience. Navigating the complexities of the UK asylum system is emotionally and physically exhausting. Moreover, many survivors urgently need mental and physical care and support to begin the healing process.
713
survivors received life changing holistic rehabilitation services.
With so many regressive changes to accommodation arrangements and the system for processing asylum claims, the immediate needs of survivors are changing. This is why, in 2023, we undertook a wide-ranging clinical survey in partnership with survivors to better understand our service users’ experiences of our face-to-face and remote clinical services.
The survey has been crucial to ensuring that improvements to our services are co-designed and relevant to survivors. Information will be used to inform changes to our clinical pathway from 2024 and will improve the quality of care that we are able to provide survivors of torture.
Supporting fellow survivors
Our survivor-led London stabilisation group, ‘Finding Our Ground’, went from strength to strength this year, with more survivors than ever working with new clients to provide a safe space to start their journey to recovery.
It is a great example of how survivors are leading the way in delivering services that have a real impact on our clients’ ability to feel safe and secure again. The stabilisation process lasts roughly 9 weeks, with each week dedicated to a different topic relating to how survivors can support themselves.
It is an important part of our clinical pathway and the recovery journey for a survivor.
"It makes such a difference, when someone has lived experience of torture themselves. It is very powerful and inspirational. Seeing that [the co-facilitator with lived experience] has been through torture herself and has survived and continued to rebuild her life and her education." - Freedom from Torture client
"The group helps service users to understand how they can help themselves during difficult times. They have mentioned to me how they are able to manage things like sleep, panic attacks, pains and trauma symptoms thanks to this group. I feel very proud to be supporting fellow survivors."
- Borry Jarju,
Survivor and Service User Engagement Coordinator
2. We changed the system
“Sunak’s inhumane policy has sparked anger across the UK, from protesters on the streets to faith leaders and cultural icons. If he is serious about offering sanctuary to those most in need, he should focus on rebuilding a fair and compassionate asylum system. One that welcomes and offers a fair hearing to refugees no matter how they arrive.”
- Sonya Sceats, Chief Executive
Fighting to ensure the UK is a place of sanctuary
2023 was a year of fierce campaigning and influencing decision makers to combat the increasingly hostile asylum system.
In June 2023 the Court of Appeal ruled that the Government’s plan to send refugees to Rwanda was unlawful. Freedom from Torture provided evidence and expertise to the court demonstrating that torture survivors will struggle to disclose their harrowing experiences in a process that moves too fast and has few safeguards.
Fighting the Rwanda policy
Having experienced persecution and trauma for so long, survivors of torture like King have struggled with their physical and mental health. With the help of organisations like Freedom from Torture, King is finding ways to cope. But she lived with the constant anxiety of being sent to Rwanda.
“Where is the understanding? The empathy? The compassion? We just want a chance to recover, to rebuild our lives, and to live in peace.”
We will continue to campaign against anti-refugee policies and to protect survivors who have risked everything to come to the UK for sanctuary and protection. In 2023 we mobilised thousands of supporters, and the fight continues.
Changing unfair processes
In response to our pre-action litigation work and threat of judicial review, the Home Office made changes to a fast-tracking system they put in place to help clear the significant backlog of asylum claims. We secured critical safeguards for survivors of torture and other refugees.
Whilst the questionnaire may have been well-intentioned, there was a significant risk of it leading to wrongful cancellation of asylum claims. Our work resulted in increased fairness for more than 10,000 refugees within the process.
80,000
supporters took action to stand with survivors in 2023 through emailing MPs or signing petitions.
10,000+
refugees will benefit from amendments to the asylum questionnaire.
Fighting to ensure the UK is a place of sanctuary
2023 was a year of fierce campaigning and influencing decision makers to combat the increasingly hostile asylum system.
In June 2023 the Court of Appeal ruled that the Government’s plan to send refugees to Rwanda was unlawful. Freedom from Torture provided evidence and expertise to the court demonstrating that torture survivors will struggle to disclose their harrowing experiences in a process that moves too fast and has few safeguards.
80,000
supporters took action to stand with survivors in 2023 through emailing MPs or signing petitions.
Fighting the Rwanda policy
Having experienced persecution and trauma for so long, survivors of torture like King have struggled with their physical and mental health. With the help of organisations like Freedom from Torture, King is finding ways to cope. But she lived with the constant anxiety of being sent to Rwanda.
“Where is the understanding? The empathy? The compassion? We just want a chance to recover, to rebuild our lives, and to live in peace.”
We will continue to campaign against anti-refugee policies and to protect survivors who have risked everything to come to the UK for sanctuary and protection. In 2023 we mobilised thousands of supporters, and the fight continues.
10,000+
refugees will benefit from amendments to the asylum questionnaire.
Changing unfair processes
In response to our pre-action litigation work and threat of judicial review, the Home Office made changes to a fast-tracking system they put in place to help clear the significant backlog of asylum claims. We secured critical safeguards for survivors of torture and other refugees.
Whilst the questionnaire may have been well-intentioned, there was a significant risk of it leading to wrongful cancellation of asylum claims. Our work resulted in increased fairness for more than 10,000 refugees within the process.
3. We drove change through survivor leadership
“I am proud Freedom from Torture has become the go-to organisation for survivor-led approaches. It is great to see survivor advisory groups within the torture rehabilitation sector using a survivor-centred framework on a global scale.”
- Kolbassia Haoussou MBE, Director of Survivor Leadership & Influencing and PSVI Survivor Champion
Spreading survivor empowerment models across the globe
In 2023, we saw survivor leaders playing an important role on the global stage – standing up for our shared values of hope and compassion and calling out injustice.
Our survivor-led network, Survivors Speak OUT (SSO), has had an incredible impact over the past year influencing consultations, debates and conferences in the UK and abroad. Their voices have been crucial to influencing international justice and accountability mechanisms.
As survivor champions, Kolbassia Haoussou MBE and Nadine Tunasi won the argument to create a survivor advisory group for the UK’s flagship Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI).
The advisory group now brings survivors from across the world together and is a tremendous example of torture survivors influencing other actors, in this case the UK Government, to take a survivor-centred approach to preventing sexual violence, including sexual torture. The advisory group is at the heart of the new international alliance that the UK has created to bolster the impact of the entire initiative, including implementation of recommendations and policy development.
"Through my work, I’ve had the opportunity to meet many survivors from different countries and I am always inspired by their determination and resilience." - Nadine Tunasi, SSO Manager and PSVI Survivor Champion
75+
organisations from around the world sought our support on models of survivor empowerment.
Spreading survivor empowerment models across the globe
In 2023, we saw survivor leaders playing an important role on the global stage – standing up for our shared values of hope and compassion and calling out injustice.
Our survivor-led network, Survivors Speak OUT (SSO), has had an incredible impact over the past year influencing consultations, debates and conferences in the UK and abroad. Their voices have been crucial to influencing international justice and accountability mechanisms.
75+
organisations from around the world sought our support on models of survivor empowerment.
As survivor champions, Kolbassia Haoussou MBE and Nadine Tunasi won the argument to create a survivor advisory group for the UK’s flagship Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative.
The advisory group now brings survivors from across the world together and is a tremendous example of torture survivors influencing other actors, in this case the UK Government, to take a survivor-centred approach to preventing sexual violence, including sexual torture. The advisory group is at the heart of the new international alliance that the UK has created to bolster the impact of the entire initiative, including implementation of recommendations and policy development.
"Through my work, I’ve had the opportunity to meet many survivors from different countries and I am always inspired by their determination and resilience." - Nadine Tunasi, SSO Manager and PSVI Survivor Champion
Support survivors of torture
Will you show your solidarity with torture survivors as they recover their confidence, their voice, and put their lives back together?
Download a PDF of this impact report or read the full 2023 Annual report
Most-read articles in 2023
What is torture?
Read about how torture is defined, different types of torture, where torture happens, why people are still tortured, and how we work with torture survivors.
Where does torture happen around the world?
The use of torture is completely prohibited by international law. However, many countries still employ torture methods. Read our guide below to learn about the situations in countries many of our clients are coming from.
Six Refugee Poems - a unique insight into the life of refugees and asylum seekers
One of the many ways we encourage survivors of torture to heal is through creativity. We have collected six poems which reflect a variety of personal experiences depicting what it’s like to be a refugee.
What is the Human Rights Act? Everything you need to know
Find out about the UK’s Human Rights Act (1998). Learn more about what the Human Rights Act is, who it applies to, who it protects and what it aims to do.
Built with Shorthand