CAT/C/71/D/792/2016
Facts as submitted by the complainant
2.1
The complainant first understood that she was a lesbian when she was 14 years old
and has had sexual relationships with girls since she was 19 years old. She attended school
between 1981 and 1996. During that period, she had relationships with two girls, M. and R.
In 1996, her family found her with R. The complainant’s father called R. “Satan” and threw
her out of the house. From that moment, the complainant was kept at home, as her family
tried to hide her homosexuality. Nonetheless, some local people found out about it. They spat
and yelled at the complainant and told her to stay away from other girls. In 1998, the
complainant was raped by a man who repeatedly told her that a woman should be with a man.
The complainant told her father about the incident but he did not react. The complainant’s
family expelled her from their home and she has not been in contact with her family since
then.
2.2
The complainant moved to town Z, where she lived with a lesbian friend, B., for nine
years. She hid her sexual orientation in order to avoid attacks. She and B. sold second-hand
clothes at the local market. Some men suspected the complainant of being a lesbian and called
her bisiyaga.1 The complainant tried to avoid encountering this group of men by changing
her route to and from the market, hiding and running away from them. She only left her home
when necessary and, when at home, locked the doors to avoid being attacked. She feared
being outed as a lesbian and being raped.
2.3
The complainant was not in a relationship in town Z because of the risk of being
exposed as a lesbian. Occasionally, she and B. went to a bar frequented by other homosexuals.
Whenever she went to or returned from the bar, the complainant was very discrete and careful.
She had sexual encounters with women she met at the bar and sometimes went home with
them but they never stayed overnight because of the increased risk of someone finding out.
2.4
In May 2007, the complainant met a woman called A. in a bar in town Z and started
a relationship with her. In June 2007, the complainant fled Uganda for Denmark with A.
because she was not free to live as a homosexual in Uganda and feared being raped and
imprisoned because of her sexual orientation.2
2.5
Upon her arrival in Denmark, the complainant did not apply for asylum because she
did not know that she had to actively do something to be allowed to stay in Denmark. She
refers to two statements by independent psychiatrists in Denmark3 according to which she
was happy to leave important decisions about her life to other people. The complainant put
her full trust in A., who did not explain to her that she would have to apply for asylum or for
a residence permit in Denmark. A. told her that she was now safe in a country where she had
rights. While living with A., the complainant remained isolated, did not meet A.’s family,
relatives or friends and only rarely had any form of social contact.
2.6
After living with A. for five or six months, the complainant was left in a bar with her
passport, which had previously been in A.’s possession. Following that, she lived around the
central station in Copenhagen before an African couple offered her shelter in return for
carrying out household duties. She collected bottles on the streets to earn some money. She
never talked to the couple about residence permits.
2.7
She only became aware of her illegal situation on 15 March 2013, when the police
found her in the couple’s apartment and arrested her for staying illegally in Denmark. The
complainant was placed in custody, where she applied for asylum and was interviewed by
the Danish Centre against Human Trafficking, which recognized her as a victim of human
trafficking. The complainant was released from custody the following day.
2.8
On 7 October 2013, the Danish Immigration Service concluded that the complainant
was not a victim of human trafficking. On 10 April 2014, the Danish Immigration Service
rejected the complainant’s request for asylum. On 15 April 2014, the complainant contacted
1
2
3
2
A negative word for homosexuals.
The complainant legally entered Denmark with a Schengen visa valid from 22 June to 4 August 2007.
She told the Danish authorities that all formalities related to the visa application had been performed
by A.
The first statement is undated. The second one is dated 4 July 2015.