Activities
The project’s plan of activities included three main phases.
The first phase consisted of delineating in greater detail the project’s theoretical frameworks, exploring how human rights, feminist and queer studies can be used as particular lenses to inform the analysis of SOGI asylum claims.
The second phase corresponded to the fieldwork that was carried out in the three countries identified for the case studies, i.e., Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, as well as the European Union and Council of Europe.
The third phase was dedicated to analysing the data collected and to producing detailed policy recommendations in regard to law, policy and decision making in the national asylum adjudication systems, the EU’s Common European Asylum System, and the CoE’s policies. The project also considered what happens to SOGI asylum seekers after the decision making process is complete – both for those individuals whose claims are accepted and those whose claims are refused – and made recommendations relating to integration policies and practices in all three countries. At the same time, considering relevant issues that emerged from the Brexit’s process over the course of the project, SOGICA also analysed how a framework for fair treatment of SOGI asylum claimants in the UK can be achieved outside of the EU. As a result, practical guidelines were issued for the reformulation of the current EU, CoE and domestic approaches towards the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, in the light of the past 70 years of political, social and cultural transformations.
To know more about these different phases, you can check the newsletters that we have published during the life of the SOGICA project:
SOGICA newsletter Issue 16 – September 2021
SOGICA newsletter Issue 15 – September 2020
SOGICA newsletter Issue 14 – June 2020
SOGICA newsletter Issue 13 – April 2020
SOGICA newsletter Issue 12 – December 2019
SOGICA newsletter Issue 11 – September 2019
SOGICA Newsletter Issue 10 – June 2019
SOGICA newsletter Issue 9 – March 2019
SOGICA Newsletter Issue 8 – December 2018
SOGICA Newsletter Issue 7 – September 2018
SOGICA Newsletter Issue 6 – June 2018
SOGICA Newsletter Issue 5 – February 2018
SOGICA Newsletter Issue 4 – November 2017
SOGICA Newsletter Issue 3 – October 2017
SOGICA Newsletter Issue 2 – July 2017
SOGICA Newsletter Issue 1 – April 2017
For a summary of the key findings of the project, you can watch this presentation:
For future, occasional, updates on SOGICA activities, please subscribe to the SOGICA mailing list.
During the life of the project, the SOGICA team has also launched four different videos that were shot in Italy and in the UK in cooperation with the video-making unit of the University of Sussex:
- the SOGICA project team video, through which the SOGICA Principal Investigator and researchers explain what the project is about and why it matters, alongside contributions from Caroline Lucas MP (UK) about why SOGI asylum should be a concern for everyone:
- the SOGICA German video, with contributions from Anbid – SOGICA Advisory Board member – and Nina – SOGICA researcher responsible for the German case study and the queer theoretical framework:
- the SOGICA Italian video, with contributions from Mazen – activist in Italy, Cristina – representative of the SOGIESC unit of UNHCR Italy and Carmelo – SOGICA researcher responsible for the Italian case study and the human rights theoretical and legal framework:
- the SOGICA UK video, with contributions from ‘Angel’ – asylum claimant, Caroline Lucas – MP and Moira – responsible for the UK case study and the feminist theoretical framework:
The team also launched a podcast with Christina’s testimony with the sponsorship of One Pump Court chambers. To know more about all outcomes of the SOGICA project, please visit the publications and the events pages.