I came to Britain in the early 1990s from Uganda to seek asylum and protection from the violence and torture I suffered in my country. I am a rape survivor seeking asylum, having been raped by the government soldiers because of my political activities. I belonged to a political party and one of my activities was to recruit the youth in the party to fight against the repressive, dictatorship military regime.

It has taken me six years for the legal system to recognise that I deserve refuge and protection. My case has gone all the way to the High Court to apply for leave to appeal which was granted. It has been in the hands of three different solicitors whereby for the first two, I did not exactly know what they were doing. They were not concerned about the details of my case but were more interested in whether I would be in a position to pay the legal fees or if I qualified for Legal Aid. At my first interview with the immigration officer, while explaining the reasons for fleeing my country my legal representative advised me to cut it short, that it was taking too long. I was surprised by her response because this was the basis of my claim for asylum. This put me in a position of weakness because my representatives were already dismissive of my case and unsympathetic. In I995 my application was turned down and I appealed against the Home Office decision.

The special adjudicator believed that I had been raped, tortured, detained and denied food but said that the mistreatment directed at me was a consequence of me being there when my brother was shot by government soldiers. Because I was a woman he did not take me seriously. He said that the government soldiers were more interested in my brother and his activities and not mine. This is pure sexist discrimination in the asylum process. I was not only a witness to a political murder but I was also tortured for my political beliefs. My role was undermined and the adjudicator did not acknowledge the on-going danger for me once deported. I had accused the government soldiers in public therefore I was a target, I had escaped detention and also claimed asylum in Britain which was very damaging to the current repressive regime. The Immigration Tribunal still dismissed my claim insisting that I happened to be in the wrong place.

Still hoping to get recognition for my claim I applied for Judicial Review and the Judge showed no mercy to me. I was very worried about my case being reported as this would probably eventually get to Uganda. Then Women Against Rape (WAR) and Black Women's Rape Action Project (BWRAP) got know to about my case. It has been through these organisations that I have come to know about my entitlement to benefits, my rights, get good legal representation, gather more evidence, and speak about the rape in detail.

I finally won my Judicial Review and my case was referred back to the Tribunal, which gave me asylum many years after I claimed.

There is so much that I have come to terms with right from the time I lost my parents at the age of thirteen, the loss of my brother, the rape, the torture in the detention centre at the age of twenty, and the legal process to recognise my claim, at a time when I was still trying to recover from my awful experiences. I have been sent several deportation letters, suffered from stress and constant anxiety, lost confidence, sense of time, and weight. I feel intimidated, restrained, and at times I feel am pushing myself too hard to achieve something to compensate for the ordeal I went through. When my appeal was turned down my benefits were stopped. There was no more income support and I was left to starve. This brought back constant memories of starvation in the detention centre back in Uganda. I fled my country because of torture only to be surprised to experience it in another form here in Britain. It was about the same time I was raped by a stranger, that’s in 1997 here in Britain. When I reported to the police, I was asked questions about how many boyfriends I have had, the sexual relationships and sexual experiences I have gone through. I had to recount all these things again, which was not very easy for me.

Had the Bill been in place by the time I arrived in Britain, I would not have been able to recover from the awful experience, get better legal representation, and gather enough evidence and time to prepare the case. Under the new Bill, my cut-off point is when the special adjudicator dismissed my claim. I would have been deported three years ago to a place where I have been raped and tortured.

All rape victims should have the same protection and resources whether or not we are asylum seekers, yet the Bill seems to increase discrimination.