Survivors International Devotes Program to Serving Survivors of Gender-Based Violence

Center for Gender and Refugee Studies and SI Join to Advocate for Gender Asylum Seekers

Survivors International, which has provided comprehensive care for torture survivors for over 18 years, announces the commencement of its Gender Asylum and Recovery Project. Working alongside the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS), and thanks to the generosity of the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, SI will be dedicating services and staff towards addressing the needs of the growing population of asylum-seekers fleeing gender-based persecution. This Project hopes to become the catalyst for relevant treatment and international advocacy for those oppressed on the basis of gender or sexual minority status.

Only in the past decade has the multitude of gender-motivated persecution – from genital mutilation, domestic abuse, to hate violence – finally become recognized as legitimate grounds for asylum. Much of this is due to CGRS' pioneering legal work and favorable new legal precedents set by the Federal Courts and Board of Immigration Appeals. CGRS groundbreaking work includes successfully arguing the concept of "reasonable expectation of futility," demonstrating that whether or not gender asylum-seekers have gone to state authorities is often irrelevant to the fear of persecution as notoriously few police worldwide actually prosecute domestic or hate violence. These legal breakthroughs have opened a space for more and more fleeing gender-based violence to step forward to seek refuge and safety.

This critical shift has brought with it new needs; appropriate resources are required to medically and psychologically treat these survivors and to provide them a continuum of care to lead healthy, independent lives once again. SI, an expert in providing such services to victims of torture, hopes to step in to fill this gap and support the work of CGRS to advocate for this group.

Not only will SI clinicians support such claims with a higher level of documentation through medical and psychological examination and expert testimony, but their work will also further insight into the underlying effects of gender-based abuse. Understanding that eliminating fear of repatriation by granting asylum is only the first step in the healing process, SI will also provide comprehensive case management to clients, linking them to long-term psychological and medical care and social service referrals.

As with all of its services, SI will provide these at low to no cost to clients to help overcome the tremendous financial burden such clinical services often impose on asylum seekers, who often have little access to traditional sources of income.

The first of its kind in the United States, this program is intended as a model to spur torture-treatment and immigration service centers throughout the nation to provide relevant assistance to this population. SI also hopes to publish the research on care for those suffering gender-motivated violence to deepen an understanding of this reality in the broader medical community.

For more information on this program: Please contact Dr. Uwe Jacobs, SI Director at (415) 546-2080 x 104.
Legal Providers: To refer clients to this program, please see our client referral information page.