Our impact in 2024 / 2025
Inside our 2024/25 Impact Report, you’ll see the life-changing impact of our services and alongside highlights from our incredible events and dedicated local groups. This is what your support makes possible.
For over 40 years, Freedom from Torture has offered a lifeline for people who have survived the unimaginable. Our founders were united by a profound moral outrage at the use of torture to silence and destroy lives. With deep compassion for those who had endured the worst of humanity, they came together to provide the critical services needed to support survivors to heal, reclaim their voices and rebuild their lives in safety – services we are so proud to continue to this day.
We were proud to have played a critical role in defeating the previous UK Government’s cruel “cash for humans” deal with Rwanda, laying groundwork and supporting the litigation and convincing airlines to back out of the scheme via our award-winning #StopTheFlights campaign. The “Day One” promise by Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the deal was a victory for humanity, and it was welcomed by survivors of torture across the UK.
In January 2025, we launched No Questions Asked, our hard-hitting investigative report exposing British universities for failing to conduct human rights checks when training security personnel from torturing states. By holding UK institutions to account, our movement is giving a clear message: not in our name.
Our survivor leaders have continued to drive policy reforms in areas such as sexual violence in conflict, torture prevention and survivor-centred care. As part of the 40th anniversary of the UN Committee Against Torture, Kolbassia Haoussou MBE stood before global leaders in Geneva in a landmark briefing with this expert body and the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) calling for a truly survivor-centred approach to justice and accountability. The UN Committee formally committed to embedding survivor-centred principles into its work and the international anti-torture framework. This commitment, secured through lived experience leadership, is now influencing reforms across the world.
Sadly, in 2025 the need for our work has never been greater. But we know we are not alone. We are held up by an extraordinary movement of compassionate people who refuse to accept the unacceptable. Together, we are a force for change: exposing the real human cost of torture, holding governments to account on their responsibility to uphold fundamental human rights and helping tens of thousands of survivors to heal and rebuild their lives in safety.
Thank you to each and every one of you for your unwavering commitment to survivors of torture. Despite the challenging situation we find ourselves in, together we stand united in ensuring that every person who has endured torture is given the chance to heal and live free from fear. Without you, we simply could not do this