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This interdisciplinary book brings together debates within the field of sexuality, forced migration, sexual violence and refugee law (socio-legal). By using empirical data, the book seeks to explore why and how lesbians seek asylum in the UK and how this process impacts upon their social and sexual identity.
List of contents
1. Introduction 2. Forced Migration and the Queer Diaspora 3. The Asylum Process and Sexuality Claims 4. (Enforced Narratives: the Legal Process 5. Evidencing Sexuality: Performativity and Sexual Subjectivity 6. Seeking Asylum: Liminal Lives 7. Reflections and Recommendations: Identities, Safety and the Subjective
About the author
Claire Bennett is a Research Fellow at the ESRC Centre for Population Change, University of Southampton.
Summary
The book begins by introducing debates on the queer diaspora, paying particular attention to the forced displacement of homosexuals in the global South. Whilst there is increasing concern predominantly raised by human rights organisations regarding the criminalisation, stigmatisation and abuses faced by LGBT people, seeking asylum on the grounds of your sexuality in the global North remains a relatively unexplored area within the social sciences. This book introduces the reader to the intricacies of navigating the UK asylum process on the grounds of sexuality, paying particular attention to the experiences of lesbian asylum seekers and refugees.
Using empirical data, the book documents women’s own testimonies of transition and investigates the reasons why women seek asylum on the grounds of their sexuality, the renegotiation of public and private boundaries, how claims for protection are rationalised and internalised and what it’s like to be a lesbian asylum seeker in the UK. This work predominantly uses sociological debates, notably Ken Plummer, Judith Butler and Queer theory, to help frame the analytical investigation and to question whether the legal requirement to provide an objective truth on ones sexuality is achievable, and how this search for the "truth" impacts upon lesbians themselves. As few studies have actively engaged with lesbian asylum seekers and refugees themselves, this book offers an essential read at a time of growing international pressure and concern regarding how homosexuals are protected from persecution.
