ABSTRACT
This chapter describes more fully and explicitly unpacks the lived experience of asylum through the voice and reflections of woman who survived sexual violence at an international border. It aims of this is to give due recognition to the complexity of individuals' lives and to facilitate an understanding of the intersectional continuum of violence that women can face not only across identities, but within and throughout lived experiences. Hawwi experienced constant vaginal discharge and itching, and was diagnosed with having contracted a venereal disease, which subsequently was not effectively treated until she later arrived in Merseyside. Having had little support from national organisations, Hawwi contacted an international independent NGO for political support as a result of her incarceration and abuse by the government. After a fall out with family, Hawwi began state-funded anti-retroviral medication (ARVs), as well as medication for newly diagnosed bipolar disorder, suffering at this point from being 'extremely depressed'.
