Victory: A mother who survived rape, who was due to be sent out of London and away from the support of All African Women’s Group (AAWG) and Women Against Rape (WAR) has won the right to stay.

It was a battle. WAR wrote a letter to say it would be devastating for her and her son to be separated from her support network.

The Home Office was forced to give in. They said they had consulted their “psychiatric adviser”. But our question is why didn’t they consult this person first when they knew from the start that she was a rape survivor. Why terrify and traumatise her and her son. Why did they disbelieve her and need her pain to be confirmed by a professional before they could make the right decision?

She said:

“I needed to be near my group because I needed help and because my son is still suffering from nightmares. So, if they take me far away who will support me?

“When I heard that I’m going to stay in London it was a relief. It is better to be with a group that you have trust in. Starting afresh again is a big thing, who will be on my side, will they use the information against me?

“I had also just found a legal aid lawyer through the group. I had a lawyer before, but when I went to AAWG I heard this is what you need to know about your lawyer and these are the questions you need to ask. So, I asked him to do more on my case and he got furious and he dropped me. Coming to the group brought that mess to light. Without the group I would never have known that the first lawyer was a deceiver.”

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