The Secret

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Angel Zimbabwe, fled In Fear for her life after police found her in bed with Another Woman five years ago. It has to convince the majority of the time since then, for you to the Home Office that she is gay and will Be Persecuted if she returns. But how do you prove something that you spent your life trying to hide?

In the year 2015, Angel found himself in a interview room in the North of England with a Home Office official, whose job it was to find out if you log.

"how do I know, I'm a lesbian? How old was I when I knew? Who would I tell?" Angel remembers to be asked.

"It is As If the office expect to be at home, a date and time. "

seven hours, the interviewer picked at the threads of her Life Story .

The Secret relationship with a girl in High School , and the betrayal of A Family member she trusted about him.

her Forced Marriage to a violent husband in your 20s, and the young daughter she had Left Behind in Zimbabwe.

raped by two men in their 30s, determined to "straighten " her". And Then , a few years later, the brutality of The Police , when she discovered that her in bed with a woman in a house-party.

Everything is called into question and discussed how much of the input here.

The interviewer asked about their religion. What The Bible teaches about being a lesbian? Have to be a lesbian conflicts with being a Christian to? It seemed to have angels that used your religion against you.

the notes of The interview in Angel's notes make it clear that you are desperate.

**the applicant is to cry**

**the applicant is still crying**

**the applicant is crying still Overwhelmed always**

as it was, Angel's testimony lacked colorful Brush Strokes . She gave short and precise answers to the questions.

Then, the interviewer moved on their relationships with women. She only had a few very in Zimbabwe, But it was impossible, openly gay. But since my arrival in the UK, there was nothing to stop them - why hadn't she used the opportunity to have relationships with women here, asked the interviewer?

She Said , she was still afraid, open to people, and she was still wearing the stigma of being a lesbian, the heaviness in her heart.

The interviewer did not seem satisfied and tried again. Only a handful of encounters with women, not to make any long-term relationships, no experiments, women in the UK. But then why does angel have to identify as a lesbian?

it was difficult for her to find The Words . "It is because of the feelings that I feel," She Said . "I didn't even practice a free platform to my sexuality. "

More Than 1,500 people Seeking Asylum in the UK on sexuality each year.

The Home Office is the decision whether to grant or refuse to grant, it depends on whether or not the interviewer, the asylum-to find-search the account in an authentic and credible, But any interviewer can look his or her own assumptions about what is worthy of an authentic and credible account should be as follows.

In The Past , the Interviewer had to ask a tendency to Intrusive questions about sexual behavior, says Zofia Duszynska, a solicitor with Duncan Lewis , the UK's largest provider of legal aid.

"Now rather than physical descriptions, decision-makers are in need of an emotional journey, for applicants to describe how they discovered they were gay, and the emotional effect on you," she says.

Karen Smith , a volunteer at the Lesbian Immigration Support Group (LISG) is true. She says the Home Office has a "fixation" with the idea that the asylum seekers should be the interviewer "on a trip" when responding to questions about how or when they realized you were a lesbian

experienced as an angel himself, by the start of this travel show is not always easy. Often, a woman "can't "know" she's a lesbian, until years after they initially felt "different', and instinctively knew to hide that you had, the difference," says Smith.

she says she knows of many cases where a lesbian woman was to be punished, short answers, as an angel, And Then , a colorful and turbulent history, sometimes as a result of traumatic experiences.

"The Home Office needs to have a better awareness of the impact of trauma on memory, and on how someone relates to someone who is questioning to that trauma," she says.

Interviewer react can be supplemented in various ways to the accounts in the earlier lesbian-activity, Smith.

"Sometimes, someone, a rejection, because you have not shown enough evidence that the LGBT activities here in the UK, But if you do it you are told in the rule that they apply only for the purposes of the asylum.

"they are often in disbelief when they still had relationships with women in their home countries, But also in disbelief, if you have, because, as the risk could you have possibly taken?"

Smith says she has even seen refusal documents, which suggest that asylum is not a candidate to be a lesbian, because they "look".

The Home Office said: "the UK is proud of the record of the provision of protection for asylum seekers from persecution due to their sexual orientation.

"is Each case is considered on its own merits, with all the available information carefully and sensitively considered in the light of the countries published information.

"decisions on claims based on sexual orientation clerk as an additional safeguard, to be checked by a second experienced once. "

Emotional journeys

Duncan Lewis lawyers, provided The Following examples of rejection letters you have received, on behalf of customers. The decision to refuse asylum was, however, in all these cases:

By asking questions such as "how you feel about yourself, when you realized you were gay?" the implication is that a candidate should say The Feeling of shame and panic when dealing with their sexuality, Zofia Duszynska. "None of these approach the published Home Office policy, which detects through an update that reflects the need for sensitivity in dealing with difficulties in the publication. "

angel tried to explain to the interviewer that she had known from an early age that she liked girls, But tried had the sense to suppress.

she had largely until 2015, if then to a house party and met Kim.

The Two Women , both in their 30s, immediately hit it off.

"With Us , it is difficult to say whether a person is a lesbian or straight because it is not something to be openly expressed," says angel. After talking for a while, she carefully tested the water.

"I have no friend and I don't have the intention to," She Said to Kim.

"Same here," Kim replied.

they danced and got tipsy. Such a rare encounter made Angel feel to keep you happy and exciting, and their inhibitions began to move away from her. Finally, they together went to One of the bedrooms.

the angels, who will later be interviewed about your asylum interview. If she knew what she was doing was dangerous, why did she do it?

"We both knew that it was dangerous, But if you meet someone who knows how you feel, and it is something that have you longing for..." she pauses.

"I was in control of how I felt for a long time, and I could not be more simple. It gets to a point where it overwhelms you, and you let it happen. None of us thought things would end up like you. "

In the Early Hours of the morning, there was a dispute down the stairs and called The Police . Angel still don't know The Details of what happened, But as soon as they came, The Police went from room to room and found Angel and Kim in bed together. They were both naked, The Situation was obvious.

"There was no way I could deny that I naked lesbian, if they find us," she says.

the arrival of The First police officers, tear back the sheets and prevents the dressed two girls, from always. They demanded other end of the hall to come and have a look.

Sex between two men is a crime in Zimbabwe, But technically, as a lesbian is not a lockable offense. Instead, The Police mete out "Instant Justice ," says angel.

"to be lesbians, We have seen what happens. We knew what would happen to us," she says.

a suspicion ngochani - a derogatory term for lesbians remembers seeing, a student is beaten up at your High School . When passersby learned why she was attacked, she held a fist in her bloodied body.

The Police stood by idly and did nothing. In fact, angel says that they were investigating how the people reacted, and I felt that you had to go over no choice But to, frosty, screaming on The Inside .

Kim was The Most vocal and shielded the angel from the brunt of the violence, she came in a rush.

refugees and asylum seekers, uk immigration, home office, long reads, lgbt, zimbabwe

Source of news: bbc.com