Read on Twitter
A young woman that I have been supporting for 8 months has gone out of contact for over 3 weeks. She came here with an international study visa and was doing a Masters course in Project Management at a London based uni. She was suffering from severe level of depression as she 1/
She fled home and moved to the UK to avoid abuse and forced marriage. She has lost her mum when she was 15 years old. She has experienced abuse from multiple abusers. First by family as father got married for the fourth time after her mum died. Then wanted to get her married. 2/
She was running from one place to another before she came to the UK. Several men abused her in the absence of legal protection in her country of origin. She thought that women have better protection in the UK, but she didn't get protection when men started to abuse her here. 3/
She first contacted me for help as her abusers from her home country were blackmailing her, while she was experiencing abuse by a man that she knew as a friend from home. He insisted that she should marry him or he would beat her. She filed a police case in June but police 4/
Police did not arrest him. They only warned him that he should stay away from the victim. Things were slightly better for a few months. Then she recieved awful messages from home and calls from the Eastham police saying that there is police case against her back home.5/
Several of her abusers joined hands to punish the woman as she has taken courageous decisions.Her abusers filed a General Diary (GD)to local police accusing her for leaving an engagement that she had never had. The local police sent a request to UK police to deport her from UK.6
This all happened when she was trying to put mind in her study and find safety in the UK. Her father sent urgent request for her to return home in October. The UK police told her that they couldn't help her case. She got to sort out this with the Embassy in London. 7/
But going to the Embassy in person to seek help would mean that our victim gets identified and faces stigma and more dangers. Her father asked her to go home or she would loose family connection.She was very worried about everything when I last saw her in mid-October. 8/
She was taking Talking therapy while we were working with @CWomenAA
on strategy to help her. As the case is complex and involves police in both countries of origin and the UK, she was considering to going back home herself to sort out things. Suddenly she went quite 9/
on strategy to help her. As the case is complex and involves police in both countries of origin and the UK, she was considering to going back home herself to sort out things. Suddenly she went quite 9/
A young woman was facing abuse, false cases, pressure to marry someone in another country while she was an international student in the UK. When she sought help of police, the UK police could not come forward. There's no law to protect migrant women in a wealthy country. 10/
Our international students, as this young woman, pay high tuition fees to UK universities but get little legal support to keep themselves safe. Young women can be whisked away so easily, drowning them into trafficking, allowing forced marriage, and letting their abusers win. 11/
