4.3. Procedure for international protection on the basis of SOGIESC
As mentioned earlier, fleeing because of your SOGIESC is a legal reason to flee. People can therefore file an application for international protection for this purpose. They have to follow a specific procedure for this, where, in addition to the standard procedure, a credibility investigation is initiated.
There are a number of expectations attached to this investigation from the CGVS/CGRA.
Expectations
- The awareness and development of SOGIESC had/has a great impact on the person.
- The person can cite concrete moments and events about this, in a (chrono)logical and coherent way.
- Awareness and experience of SOGIESC should be accompanied by feelings of doubt, uncertainty, fear, shame…
- The focus should be on an emotional experience, not just sexual acts.
- Religious persons should also be able to impart a lived relationship with their religion and awareness of their SOGIESC. As you heard in Lucy’s story, there is also a lack of understanding about this.
- ‘Coming out’: there is a focus on self-awareness, self-acceptance and disclosure of the SOGIESC to others.
As you may notice, these expectations also start from the Western frame of reference we talked about earlier.
As a result, the procedure raises a number of difficulties, namely:
- An applicant’s personal and cultural context may cause them to be unable to meet this.
- Not every LGBTI+ person goes through the same development of their SOGIESC. For some, this process may have only just started, others experience their SOGIESC differently from within those limited, Western frameworks, for example.
- Linear and chronological storytelling is not always possible, both because of cultural influences and traumas the applicants may have experienced.
- For some, sexual acts are the only or first way to express their sexual orientation. This is also often easier to talk about than deeper feelings, especially when they have to share them with people they do not know and therefore do not trust (yet).
As mentioned, it may be good to prepare the applicant for international protection for this procedure. You can do this by making them aware of the expectations at the investigation by the CGVS/CGRA, by updating them on the terminology used in the West and by looking for an LGBTI+ inclusive interpreter.
For further advice regarding this topic or the procedure you can get in touch with organsations such as NANSEN or by contacting çavaria.