As an active participant in the fight against FGM in the UK, Anj Handa was contacted by the Leeds Migrant Access Partnership early this year asking whether she would meet with one of their peer volunteers, indicating that they thought she needed some additional support. That client was Afusat Saliu, a Nigerian woman who fled her country while she was pregnant, arriving in the UK in December 2011. Having been a victim of FGM as a baby, Afusat feared for her daughter and wasn’t prepared to let her face the same fate. Anj is a Mental Health First Aider and decided to support this woman with her mental health issues, but what started out as emotional support soon turned into a lot more than that.
“We really didn’t anticipate what a roller coaster it was going to be then,” said Anj.
After arriving in the UK, Afusat gave birth to another baby girl. Now aged four and two, Afusat is extremely relieved to be able to bring them up in the UK where they won’t be subject to the FGM tradition. But now, the British Home Office is trying to deport Afusat and send her back to Nigeria, despite the current political situation. Afusat believes that if she were to return to Nigeria, her daughters would be forced to undergo FGM. Additionally, she is under personal danger as she also escaped a forced marriage to a man 40 years older than her. Naturally, this has added to her high state of anxiety.
Since meeting Afusat in January 2014, Anj has been working with solicitors to help prepare fresh evidence for Afusat’s trial. However, the fresh evidence was dismissed by the Home Office and they are adamant to go ahead with their plans of sending Afusat and her daughters back to Nigeria. After hearing of this, a number of solicitors approached Anj with offers of help. A team is now working on a pro bono basis and are fighting the battle to have Afusat’s situation reviewed.
Anj’s Change.org petition has now received over 120,000 signatures from people who have joined in the fight for Saliu and her daughters and the case has received media attention globally.
Anj’s petition requests the Home Office to:
- Review new evidence, which was presented, but appears to have been overlooked
- Consider Case Law precedent, where a materially similar application for asylum was upheld
- Ensure the safety and well-being of her two small daughters who are now well settled in Leeds (including the youngest, who was born in London), but who are likely to be subject to FGM should they return to Nigeria
- Pay due regard to the imminent danger involved to her and her family should she be returned to Nigeria, given the latest information that Nigeria is unlikely to be able to provide sufficient protection for herself and her family
- Take note of the community contribution already made by Afusat
Although the petition might not directly help keep Afusat in the UK, what it has done is bring female genital mutilation into the limelight once again. The petition has helped to show the British public what a serious issue this is and has helped a lot of people put a human face on a practice that was previously deemed as something foreign and ancient.
“It’s not that people are not interested in FGM or that they don’t recognise it,” said Anj. “But some people just struggle to believe that this is actually happening in the UK. It’s like no one wants to believe that something so horrifying actually goes on.”
She goes on to explain that while the petition has helped make the British public more aware of the horrors of FGM, the reason why she started it was for the victims of this practice.
“All this is happening, this legal process is playing out and it hasn’t got any noise. I just thought about the women that are suffering – it’s up to people like us to give them a voice.”
Help Anj’s fight for Afusat and other victims of FGM by signing her petition here. Let’s create some noise and give these women the strength and support they need, but let’s also help convince the UK government to give them a safe haven from these horrific practices.
“Afusat and I became friends because she’s a smart woman and I really respect her. She struggles – she’s not good mentally at all – but she tries to cope because she’s got two little girls and she has to. That’s someone I admire. So I’ll fight for her, but when I’m fighting for her, I’m fighting for lots of other women too.” – Anj Handa
As published in
