Memory and trauma in LGBTQ+ women’s asylum claims on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) grounds: disregarded, dismissed and denied

This research delves into the relationship between trauma and memory in relation to LGBTQ+ women’s claims for international protection in the UK on SOGI grounds, and looks at how the impacts of these are currently dealt with in asylum procedures. The research explores how memory and trauma exacerbate existing barriers faced by LGBTQ+ women during their refugee status determination (RSD) procedures, how these issues influence the coherence of their narratives of their persecution, and how this impacts decision-makers’ assessments of their credibility and ultimately the outcome of their claims for asylum on SOGI grounds in the UK. Fundamentally, the research reveals how UK RSD procedures, in both policy and practice, deal with the impact of psychological trauma on memory in the assessment of LGBTQ+ women’s asylum claims on SOGI grounds in the UK, paying close attention to how medical evidence outlining the memory impairment resulting from persecution-related trauma is interpreted and considered by decision-makers. Through a comprehensive analysis of case law spanning a 10-year period, the research finds that the UK asylum system currently deals with the compounding effects of trauma and memory in LGBTQ+ women’s claims for asylum on SOGI grounds inconsistently, and in a way that is entirely at odds
with both international and domestic RSD policy and guidance.