Survivor activism

When people are tortured, their voices are taken away from them. As part of their recovery, survivors can share and use their stories to fight for change.

We are proud to be guided in everything we do by survivors. As managers, staff, activists and service users, survivors play a leading role in the design, delivery and evaluation of services, identifying and pursuing advocacy issues, and delivering campaign victories. 

We have a number of activist and creative groups, led by survivors, that raise public awareness and influence decision-makers about torture and its impact.

Survivors Speak OUT (SSO)

SSO is a national network of torture survivors founded in 2008 by former clients who wanted to use their voice and lived experience to advocate against torture and campaign for their rights. 

In the fight against torture, we are the experts. Our stories and experiences have been appropriated by our torturers and the hostile environment in this country. Our expert voices influence others and call for evidence-based policies.

SSO promotes survivor empowerment, meaningful engagement with decision-makers and active participation in seeking justice.

Find out more about Survivors Speak OUT.

Write to Life

We are the creative writing and performance group that supports current and former clients to tell stories in different art forms, and through this find new audiences for our work. We are the longest-running refugee-writing group in Britain, and the only one specifically for survivors of torture.

Our members come from all over the world. Despite writing and performing in their fourth or fifth language, they have built an impressive body of work, collaborating with the Roundhouse, both Tate Galleries, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, amongst others.

Find out more about Write to Life.

Young Outspoken Survivors (YOS)

We are Freedom from Torture’s new youth activism group for current and former clients who are between 16 and 25 years old. We want to build community and make the UK a more welcoming environment for young survivors of torture. 

We combine a mixture of campaigning and creative activism. We’ve met with politicians and other activists to discuss the challenges facing young survivors of torture. We’ve also devised a short play, The Hospitable Environment, which we performed at Freedom from Torture, St. Ethelburga’s Church and Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury as a part of the Platforma Festival.  

We raise our voices to challenge torturers and the hostile environment policy.  We want: 

• Freedom to learn – we need access to and funding for education.
• Decent accommodation – we need housing where we won’t be further traumatised.
• Adequate healthcare support – we need better support for our physical and mental well-being.  
• The Home Office to treat us like humans – we need fair decision-making and a better process for conducting interviews from the Home Office. 

To find out more about Young Outspoken Voices, contact Deluxe Mwengula.