Areas of Work
Freedom from Torture leads the anti-torture work in the United Kingdom, providing specialist psychological therapy to help asylum seekers and refugees who have survived torture recover and rebuild their lives in the country. It provides training for professionals working with torture survivors and initiates influential survivor-led campaigns in the UK and across the world to raise awareness and influence decision-makers. Its modern and effective approach to communication and mobilization on torture has won global recognition.
The organization offers a medico-legal report service to survivors to provide evidence of torture and support asylum claims. It is the driving force in the UK for advocacy against the transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda and has led a successful campaign to prevent the adoption of legislation that would have granted immunity to State officials for torture committed abroad by its armed forces.
Noteworthy initiatives include Survivors Speak OUT, a national network of torture survivors who are former clients of Freedom from Torture and speak with authority on issues of torture and life in the UK as asylum seekers and refugees; Write to Life, a creative writing and performance group that supports current and former clients to tell stories; Young Outspoken Survivors, a youth activism group for current and former clients who are between 16 and 25 years old and want to make the UK a more welcoming environment for young survivors of torture.
