London (CNN)Concerns about female genital mutilation, or FGM, are rising in the UK after the number of children who’ve had the procedure or are at risk of it more than doubled in the past year.
London (CNN)Concerns about female genital mutilation, or FGM, are rising in the UK after the number of children who’ve had the procedure or are at risk of it more than doubled in the past year.
Seyeda has been rejected by her family, abused and raped because she is gay – but is determined to be out and proud.
The 42-year-old from Pakistan believes she would have been killed if she had not moved to the UK.
“I can’t even imagine (what would have happened). I don’t think I would be alive there.
“But there is no looking back. If people are harassing me, I need to make myself more strong.”
Seyeda – whose parents died before they discovered her sexuality – was under pressure from an early age to marry a cousin.
“I didn’t want to because I knew of my orientation,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live Investigates.
A new report from LGBT domestic abuse charity Galop reveals around one in four of the cases seen by their advocacy service has been abused by family members – while one in ten is at risk of ‘honour-based’ violence or forced marriage.
University provided no escape for Seyeda. After a supervisor discovered her sexuality, she says she was forced off her PhD programme, and left without accommodation.
“I didn’t have anywhere to stay,” she explained. “If you are a woman on your own in Pakistan, you can’t live anywhere.
“I have uncles and aunts in Pakistan, and I was begging to stay (with them). But they weren’t ready to (let me) – and I was not ready to get married in the way they wanted me to.
“Once the extended family came to know about my sexuality, I had a bad time.”