Stand with Survivors

Support a Survivor of Human Cruelty: Report

On behalf of the Helen Bamber Foundation and survivors of torture and human cruelty that we serve, thank you. Your generous donations allow the Helen Bamber Foundation to provide expert care and support for refugees and asylum seekers who have suffered extreme physical, sexual and psychological violence. Our clients have suffered numerous atrocities including: state-sponsored torture, religious / political persecution, human trafficking, forced labour, sexual exploitation, gender-based and ‘honor-based’ violence. Many of our clients have lived through multiple atrocities and have been repeatedly victimised over months and years. Every year, we work with hundreds of survivors from all over the world, including Syria, Albania, Ghana, Eritrea, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Vietnam. 

The multiple and complex needs that we work with

Clients of the Helen Bamber Foundation have experienced some of the world’s worst human atrocities. They have suffered extreme, systematic acts of violence and exploitation that have stripped away their dignity and destroyed their sense of self. Survivors of such atrocities are left with multiple and complex needs including:

• Acute psychological health conditions including severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which causes survivors to re-experience past trauma through excruciating flashbacks and nightmares and suffer debilitating panic attacks, depression, anxiety, despair, self-hatred and suicidal ideation. Psychological violence and abuse are intended to destroy self-esteem, confidence and resilience, leaving survivors with reduced capacity for autonomy (independence) and agency (decision making).
• Severe physical injuries and medical conditions as a result of repeated violence including being punched, kicked, beaten, electrocuted, burnt, stabbed, starved, raped and / or subjected to prolonged exploitation and confinement in unsafe conditions. Survivors suffer neurological disorders, badly healed fractures and wounds, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory disorders and rape injuries including sexually transmitted infections.
• Extreme vulnerability to further exploitation in the UK including being pursued by their original abusers as well as criminal gangs that target vulnerable individuals. Survivors often submit to exploitative situations as a means of survival, believing there is no other option for them. 
• Risk of further persecution in their country of origin as a result of the damaging impact of their experiences and the stigma of being a ‘victim’. This means survivors often seek asylum in the UK. The asylum process brings new challenges for our clients, they face harmful periods of immigration detention whilst they struggle to be believed by authorities. Survivors are often too unwell, frightened or ashamed to provide the required evidence of the atrocities they have suffered.
• Homelessness and destitution because they are not able to access the appropriate housing and welfare support or advocate for themselves when things go wrong.
• Intense loneliness, survivors of atrocities are often completely alone with no friends or family, particularly those who have been victimised from childhood, and are unable to develop and maintain healthy relationships or engage in social activities, education or employment.

The care and support we provide

The Helen Bamber Foundation is a specialist UK charity with extensive experience working with people who have survived extreme physical, sexual and psychological violence. We deliver a range of integrated services that address the complex needs and vulnerabilities of survivors. We offer survivors access to an individually tailored programme of specialist psychological care and physical rehabilitation activities alongside an advisory GP clinic, expert medico-legal documentation, safeguarding, welfare and housing support, creative arts and employability skills programmes.

The impact we have

The Helen Bamber Foundation helps asylum seekers and refugees who have survived extreme violence and abuse achieve sustained recovery. This is a three-stage process:

Stage 1       Stabilisation - we help survivors to gain stability by avoiding further re-victimisation, finding a safe and secure place to live and accessing the appropriate health and welfare support.

Stage 2       Trauma-focussed therapy - we help survivors to confront and overcome their traumatic experiences and develop / regain confidence, resilience, independence and agency.

Stage 3       Integration - we help clients to integrate into the community, including helping them to provide the required evidence to secure legal protection in the UK and facilitating opportunities to develop positive relationships and the skills necessarily to live successful, independent and fulfilling lives.  

An example of a typical hour at the Helen Bamber Foundation

Hamid arrives first. Hamid walks with a pronounced limp, he is a young survivor of torture from Eritrea who began treatment at the Foundation three months ago. He has just started intensive trauma-focussed therapy and is nervous about his next session with our Head of Therapies, Dr Katy Robjant. In his session, Katy helps Hamid to talk though his experiences being imprisoned in a shipping container in the East African desert. It is an important breakthrough in his progress to recovery that he is able to complete the session without dissociating or having panic attacks and flashbacks that used to afflict him almost constantly. In the next room, Xin has arrived for a sexual health assessment with one of our volunteer GPs, Dr Jane Hunt. Xin is an orphan who was trafficked from China and forced into prostitution, first in Eastern Europe and then in London. She is too ashamed and afraid to see an NHS GP so Jane is undertaking an initial assessment. Anna then arrives. Anna was trafficked from West Africa, her traffickers used pseudo-religious juju rituals involving her blood, hair and reflection to convince Anna that terrible things will happen to her and her family if she ever escaped or told anyone about her experiences. She has many physical scars and struggles to talk openly or trust people. Today however Anna is happy and has come to a meeting with Andrew, our in-house legal expert, to tell him that with the help of our specialist Medico-Legal Report she has finally been recognised as a survivor of trafficking and has been awarded indefinite leave to remain in the country.

By supporting the Helen Bamber Foundation, you are supporting our work with more than 1,000 asylum seekers and refugees who have suffered extreme physical, sexual and psychological violence. You are contributing to the costs of over 2,000 specialist psychotherapy appointments, weekly physical rehabilitation activities including osteopathy and yoga, at least 175 detailed medico-legal reports to support survivors’ claims for legal protection and 10 free creative arts and skills groups for survivors, including arts and crafts, film, music, photography, English and computer skills.

“You are the only place I can go to for help, you are the only ones who understand me and don’t judge me.”

Amir, a torture survivor from Iran, to his HBF caseworker who was supporting him to escape rough sleeping

 “You are the best thing that has ever happened in my life. I now feel like I can be me and that’s alright.”

Fatima, a trafficking survivor from Malawi, to her HBF therapist who has been working with her for 3 years

Links:

• Our Website