My name is T***; I am a 26-year-old from Iraq. I graduated from university, got married in 2016 to A***** and arrived in the UK on a spouse visa in 2017. From the date of the marriage when I was still in Iraq, I experienced emotional and verbal abuse from A***** and his family. When I told my family that he is abusing me verbally, emotionally and that I want a divorce, they refused that stating this will affect my sisters’ reputation and bring shame on our family. When I told my husband to divorce me, he asked me to pay him $30000, only then would he divorce me. I started sexual activity with him 4 days after I arrived in the UK home and that was by him raping me.
I suffered domestic violence and abuse, perpetrated by my husband during my marriage. This included verbal, emotional, financial, physical and sexual abuse. He was very controlling and he was excessively jealous, he forced me to wear a hijab. He never let me mix with anyone, I was like a prisoner in my own home. I didn’t have a bank account although I was an employee in the same place where he was my supervisor, he was getting my salary. I was pregnant and he put his weight on my shoulders until I had a miscarriage, he denied having access to a medical treatment.
I didn’t know A***** was in a relationship with another woman before our marriage but he couldn’t marry her so when he married me, he tried to make me identical to the other woman by forcing me to have plastic surgery to my nose and ear. After the first operation to my nose, he punched me and broke it so I had to have a second operation. He forced me to get plastic surgery on my ear, when I refused, he threatened me by divorcing me and my sister begged me to do the operation. The operation was in Iraq. After that I got an ear infection and the treatment for it was in a UK hospital which lasted for weeks. They recommended another operation as there was a risk of losing my hearing so I had a second operation.
In 2018 I was living outside London, I contacted KMEWO as I was in a difficult situation and don’t know what to do, they contacted women organisation in my city and referred my case to them as a high-risk case. When the women organisation met me, they called the police, they took me to a safe place for 40 days but after pressure from my family and my husband begging to return home, I returned to him. Police were visiting us for 8 months. I thought A***** changed but he was thinking of revenge because I reported him. Him and his family planned to return me to Iraq and make up a story about these 40 days saying that I ran away with another man and this caused me to be a subject of HBV. My brother wanted to kill me, I managed to flee to the UK by my uncle’s support.
We contacted KMEWO again, this time with the family that I was living with in November 2019. The family and the place were well known to my husband and his family, they were contacting the host all the time, and the host was even denying that I am living there but they didn’t believe her. The host was scared of A***** because he was from a very powerful family in Iraq.
I met KMEWO’s case worker face to face, she contacted the police to give my statement. I got full support from her; I can’t imagine my life without their support.
Identified needs:
- Risk Assessment & Safety planning
- Needs assessment/ Support planning
- Immigration advice
- Safe place/Refuge
- Mental health wellbeing
- Counselling in her native language –Kurdish Sorani
- Universal Credit application
Outcomes:
- Risk Assessment completed high-risk/ MARAC referral
- Planned for personal safety and support – Discuss non molestation order
- Applied and got fund from Southall Black Sister to support NRPF for B&B fees
- Placed into refuge, worked and shared information side by side with her refuge worker
- Referred to immigration solicitor, for DDV concession; she has granted
3 months leave to remain
- Referred and started her counselling in Kurdish Sorani language
- Ongoing emotional support and confidence building by attending support groups
- Support letter for her immigration case