Caritas Bakhita House 2023 Review

Caritas Bakhita House 2023 End of year report

Caritas Bakhita House 2023 End of year report

Bakhita House Guests: Facts & Figures

188

Guests have come from 49 countries: Afghanistan Albania Bangladesh Botswana Brazil

1 21 1 1 7

Bulgaria Burkina Faso Cameroon China Colombia Czech Republic Eritrea Ethiopia Gambia Ghana Georgia Grenada Guinea Honduras Hungary India Indonesia Jamaica Japan Korea Kenya Liberia Mali Mauritius Moldova Morocco Nepal New Zealand Nigeria Pakistan Philippines Poland Romania Sierra Leone Slovakia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka St Vincent Thailand Uganda United Kingdom Vietnam Zimbabwe

8 1 3 9 1 3 1 7 1 2 1 1 1 1 6 6 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 5 6 37 3 1 1 1 3 1 3 1 3 12 1

Exploitation faced:

(+1 who returned after 18 months having become homeless)

women aged 15-70 have stayed at Caritas Bakhita House.

14 babies have been born to women staying with us.

We have helped secure prison sentences totalling

188

years and 4 months for those who traffic and exploit women.

Volunteers generously donated

2,000

hours this year. With their support, our guests were able to take part in therapeutic activities and gain life skills.

Sexual exploitation

125

Domestic servitude

52

Serious sexual assault

9

Benefit fraud/crime

9

Sham marriages

6

Forced labour

7

Grooming

1

Unknown

2

Front cover photo: Detail from the Eagle Star quilt which women staying at Bakhita House made with artist and art therapist volunteer, John Bateson-Hill

Caritas Bakhita House 2023 End of year report

A year in review

Karen Anstiss, Bakhita House Service Manager

Dear Friend, During 2023, Caritas Bakhita House was once more a place of refuge for women who have experienced violence, trafficking, sexual exploitation and modern slavery.

Under this roof, they find safety, kindness and understanding – sometimes for the first time – and, as you’ll see on page 6, ways to heal.

On page 4, you can read about the legal process that led to one of our guests seeing a serial rapist sentenced to 31 years in prison. When you realise that she first reported the rape in 2018, you’ll understand how much courage and endurance it takes.

I want to thank everyone who has touched our guests’ lives with their kindness, whether that’s as a supporter or volunteer. With your support, women leave Caritas Bakhita House feeling ready to make choices for themselves, and live independently.

Karen Anstiss

Karen Anstiss Caritas Bakhita House Service Manager

Caritas Bakhita House is a safe house for women who have been trafficked, and exploited in any way. Opened in 2015, it is owned by the Diocese of Westminster and managed by Caritas Westminster.

Our values and principles are drawn from the Catholic faith.

Love is shown in compassionate support and long-term commitment.

We respect the dignity of every individual.

Our community creates friendship and belonging.

We nurture spirituality in creative activities that can bring joy and lift the spirit.

People of all faiths and none are welcome at Caritas Bakhita House.

We depend on the generosity of supporters giving donations and volunteers giving their time to run this unique service for women.

We protect the identities of all the women who stay at Bakhita House. Although we change their names when we share their stories, all other details are true.

Page 3

Caritas Bakhita House 2023 End of year report

JANUARY FEBRUARY 2018 MARCH

APRIL Met my rapist and trafficker

MAY JUNE

JANUARY

2019 2020

JUNE

JANUARY FEBRUARY

APRIL MARCH

2021

2022 2023 Page 4

AUGUST

Case accepted by Legal firm

MAY

Plea hearing Postponed

FEBRUARY MARCH Discretionary Leave expires

Crown Prosecution Service approves rape charges

JANUARY

Criminal case closed

Visa expires

Relocate to live with friends

JULY JUNE JUNE

Relocate to friends’ house Rapist pleads ‘Not guilty’

MAY

JUL A

AUGUST SEPTE Meeting with Police (10th interview)

APRIL MAY JUNE JULY JANUARY Rapist sentenced to 31 years in prison

AUGUST

APRIL

MARCH

JANUARY

Reported my rape to Police Relocated to Caritas Bakhita House

SEPTEM

FEBRUARY Relocate to Caritas Bakita House

JULY

JULY

FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY

Rapist arrested and remanded

SEPTEMBER

Home Office grants 30 months leave

Tri

e

OCT

Caritas Bakhita House 2023 End of year report

R

1,683 days OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

Criminal case re-opened

DECEMBER

s

MBER

It took 1,683 days from the first day I walked through my perpetrator’s door and was raped, to hearing the final verdict on the first of December 2022. When you watch police dramas, they don’t show you the merry-go-round of interviews, the impact of delays on your well-being, the dehumanising experience of losing your right to work in the country, or how your rapist may end up with more rights and freedoms than you which allow him to continue a campaign of rape.

This timeline doesn’t show all these things, but to me, it represents a broken system. It represents failures in policy and law, and a lack of action by those in office who should have protected me. The most harrowing part of this timeline is that I lived it.

SEPTEMBER AUGUST NOVEMBER DECEMBER Along my journey, I was lucky to be supported by OCTOBER

some brilliant organisations and these included Bakhita House and Centre for Women’s Justice (who today, continue to support me).

OCTOBER SEPTEMBER

LY AUGUST

Trial postponed

NOVEMBER

EMBER NOVEMBER

ial starts/ I give evidence

TOBER

DECEMBER

DECEMBER

Rapist found guilty on all five counts, as well as additional charges against other women

I came to the country as an immigrant, and didn’t know the first thing about modern slavery or trafficking. I was in shock when these supporting organisations called out my experiences for what it was, ‘Trafficking’’. The word made me uncomfortable, and it became even more uncomfortable to realise that my lack of understanding was shared by most of the wider world.

With the support from these organisations I was able to find a place where I could move past feeling ashamed of my experiences. After all, it wasn’t my fault. This was particularly important as it meant that when my day in court finally came I could stand up and hold my truth up in front of jury and judge.

Following my traumatic experience inflicted on me by my perpetrator, and years of hostility from the system, I have been able to reintegrate myself into society and find purpose in a world I had at one point begun to see as hostile. Now I see opportunity, connection and a place for me to thrive.

Page 5

Caritas Bakhita House 2023 End of year report

“ Art can help restore what is most broken in us…”

How do we heal? Women at Caritas Bakhita House have found strength, creativity and solidarity making a quilt, as John Bateson-Hill, artist and art therapist volunteer, explains. “ Can art heal, restore, and offer hope? Can it help people feel part of something greater than themselves? I would say yes. “ When our weekly art group set out to make an Eagle Star quilt, none of us knew what lay ahead. “ Surrounded by coloured fabrics, pins, needles and threads, we began cutting out paper templates for the coloured fabric. People worked with great patience. The next phase involved making eight larger diamond shaped segments to make the Eagle Star itself.

Page 6

“ By early October, we had the Eagle Star quilt in all its glory – its black and white wings, its white head and yellow beak flying in a turquoise blue sky. It looked magnificent. “ Each of us in our art group is like one of the little diamonds we so carefully made. We may feel small and unimportant, but take away even a single diamond and the quilt doesn’t look right.

As making this quilt demonstrated, art can be fun and help restore what is most broken in us.”

Caritas Bakhita House 2023 End of year report

A pilgrimage with a difference…

Pope Francis has called human trafficking ‘an open wound on the body of contemporary society’ and he has asked us all to face the reality that we are part of the problem. Simon John went a step further…

In July 2023, Simon John, 77, set off from Walsingham on a pilgrimage with a difference. He planned to cycle to Lourdes, raising funds for Caritas Bakhita House on the way.

“ Bakhita House and its brave residents seemed an obvious choice when it came to a Christian anti-slavery fundraiser. “ I had trained extensively so made good progress in lovely weather and glorious scenery. I crossed the Thames at Gravesend, a place of dark history in the annals of Transatlantic Slavery. I had time to bask in the wonders of Canterbury Cathedral. The rain set in as I descended the hill into Dover. “ My journey through France was going well, people were very generous and donated to the cause. Outside Chartres, I was knocked over by a school bus.

At first, the injuries seemed minor so I biked on.

By the time I reached Blois, I could not walk. Unbeknown to me, I was developing a ‘silent’ deep vein thrombosis in my leg.”

Simon wasn’t able to complete the journey to Lourdes and has since made a good recovery. He helped to raise much-needed funds and valuable awareness for Caritas Bakhita House.

You too can send a gift to help women who have been trafficked find safety and life-changing support without going any further than www.rcdow.org.uk/donate/

Page 7

Image: Image courtesy of Vatican Media

Caritas Bakhita House 2022 End of year report

From the women of Caritas Bakhita House to Pope Francis…

On Anti-slavery Day, Pope Francis received a gift from Caritas Bakhita House.

Modern slavery and human trafficking are issues that Pope Francis has made a priority during his papacy.

On 18 October – Anti-slavery Day – Dr Carole Murphy was part of a group who travelled to Rome from St Mary’s University. Dr Murphy, Director of the Bakhita Centre for Research on Slavery, Exploitation and Abuse, presented Pope Francis with a very special piece of artwork – a lino print made by women at Caritas Bakhita House.

A reproduction of it appears on the cover of ‘Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking: the Victim Journey’, edited by Dr Murphy and Runa Lazzarino. Pope Francis enthusiastically received his copy, which includes contributions from Karen Anstiss, Service Manager of Caritas Bakhita House, about the experiences of survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery.

Two weddings, two births and a Masters In a world that can feel bleak at times, we celebrate the strength and resilience of all our guests.

Two weddings: two of our guests got married in 2023.

Two births: two babies were born to women staying at Caritas Bakhita House this year.

Academic success: one of our guests, who graduated last year, is now studying for a Masters.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS!

GADS1832/01.2024

If you would like to find out more about Caritas Bakhita House, or to make a donation, please contact Helen Bright via email on: helenbright@rcdow.org.uk or you can visit www.caritaswestminster.org.uk/bakhita-house.php Tel: 020 7798 9353 Donate Online: www.rcdow.org.uk/donate and select Bakhita Initiative

Page 8 Westminster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust – Registered Charity Number 233699