Who is Survivors Speak Out?

'What happened to me has happened. I can't change it. It is now part of who I am. I can't punish those who did it. But I will do everything in my power to make our stories public, to stop it happening to others, to help people pick up their lives again.

"I got my British passport recently  - it was a great day for me. My own country, which I love and hope to return to one day, rejected me. I'm very grateful to be here but more grateful that I'm now involved in something as important as Survivors Speak OUT (SSO)' ~a member of the SSO network

One way that Freedom from Torture works with survivors to speak out is through us, the Survivors Speak OUT network. We are former clients of Freedom from Torture now actively engaged in speaking out about the impact of torture. We do not speak about past experience of torture but instead will tell you that while this has happened to us, our stories are about so much more. They are about leaving home, moving to the UK, getting help but also facing some very real challenges in our daily lives here.

There are about 19 people in the network but we are hoping that as we become stronger so does the number of our members. We are torture survivors from around the world including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Azerbaijan and Sri Lanka. We speak to many different audiences including to youth audiences at schools and universities, to community based groups as well as to decision makers including John Vine, the independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency.

To find out more about our work, just send us a message or if you have time, Give us a hand!