Page | 1 Key points • Immediate cessation of alleged harm o All alleged targeting, harassment, surveillance, intimidation, coercion and unwanted contact must stop. o The person should be left alone and not subjected to further attempts to influence or control her. • No forced reconciliation o She does not consent to being forced to reconcile with people she believes harmed her. o She must not be told to "forgive", "forget", "move on", "accept them" or "just get along with them". o Reconciliation must be genuinely voluntary. • No forced contact o She should not be compelled to meet, communicate or associate with people or groups she does not wish to deal with. o Necessary administrative contact should use independent alternatives wherever reasonably possible. • No coercion disguised as integration o "Integration" must not mean forcing her to associate with particular people. o Cultural integration must not be used as justification for coercion, identity alteration or unwanted relationships. o She must retain freedom to choose her own friendships, associations and cultural connections. • No reconciliation as entrapment o Reconciliation must not become a mechanism for keeping her in an environment she considers unsafe. o She must not be presented with a choice between accepting unwanted people and losing access to normal life. o She must have genuine alternatives. • No "manufactured peace" o A temporary reduction in alleged harmful activity does not prove that the underlying danger has disappeared. o Temporary calm must not be presented as permanent safety. o A temporary ceasefire must not be used to persuade her to lower her guard, abandon complaints or remain in an unsafe environment.
Page | 2 • No temporary peace in exchange for permanent dependence o She should not be asked to surrender independence in exchange for assurances that she will temporarily be left alone. o Peace must not depend upon the goodwill of people she believes previously harmed her. • Future safety must be addressed o Any proposed reconciliation should first address the possibility of recurrence. o There should be an independent assessment of whether there is an ongoing risk. o Authorities should not simply assume that because nothing is happening now, nothing will happen later. • Safety must be genuine and continuing o The person needs practical long-term security, not temporary assurances. o This includes safe accommodation, financial independence, employment opportunities, independent support and access to protection if problems recur. • Right to leave o She must remain free to leave an environment or relationship she considers unsafe. o Reconciliation must not remove her ability to leave. o She must not become financially, socially or practically dependent upon the people concerned. • No second exposure to alleged harm o If the previous allegations are credible, returning the person to the same circumstances without addressing the underlying risk could expose her to recurrence. o The possibility of another incident must be considered before any forced return or reconciliation. • No dismissal of previous allegations o She must not be pressured to say that nothing happened. o She must not be required to withdraw complaints or minimise alleged harm. o Disputes about what happened should be resolved through independent investigation, not through pressure on the person to abandon her account. • No retaliation o She must not suffer consequences because she refuses reconciliation or continues to report her concerns. o Refusing contact should not be treated as evidence of a psychological problem, hostility or failure to integrate.
Page | 3 • No psychological manipulation o No further alleged attempts should be made to alter her identity, personality, beliefs or behaviour. o No psychological or behavioural programme should be conducted without lawful authority, appropriate professional standards and genuinely informed consent. • No coercive recruitment o She should not be pressured to join any organisation, group, community or belief system. o Membership must never be presented as the only way to obtain safety, assistance, employment or social contact. • No exploitation of vulnerability o Her circumstances as a refugee, woman, financially vulnerable person or socially isolated person must not be exploited. o Lack of money, employment, housing or support must not be used to create dependency. • Independent future o She must be allowed to establish a future independent of the people or groups she alleges harmed her. o She should have access to independent employment, income, accommodation, legal assistance and social support. • Independent investigation o The allegations should be investigated independently rather than by people potentially implicated in the events. o The investigation should establish what happened, who was involved, what authority they relied upon and whether wrongdoing occurred. • No interference with investigation o Nobody should intimidate witnesses, influence investigators, coordinate evidence, destroy records or interfere with independent investigators. o No person implicated should control the investigation into their own alleged conduct. • Preservation of evidence o Relevant communications, records, case files, messages, financial records, professional records and other evidence should be preserved. o Evidence must not be destroyed, altered, concealed or manufactured.
Page | 4 • No forced disappearance or removal o There must be no attempt to make the person inaccessible to independent investigators, lawyers, human-rights organisations or international bodies. o She should not be unlawfully detained, concealed, transferred or otherwise made inaccessible. • Freedom to contact international bodies o She must remain free to communicate with appropriate UN, refugee, human-rights, legal and other independent organisations. o There must be no retaliation for seeking international assistance. • No manufactured admissions or denials o A denial should not be manufactured merely to avoid accountability. o An admission should not be manufactured through coercion. o What matters is establishing the facts through evidence. • Reconciliation should come, if ever, only after safety o Independent investigation should precede any serious reconciliation proposal. o Risk should be independently assessed. o Genuine safety measures should be established. o Independent alternatives should be available. o The final decision must belong to the individual. • Core principle o She needs safety, not merely a pause in alleged harm. o She needs security, not temporary assurances. o She needs independence, not dependency. o She needs genuine alternatives, not an imposed choice. o She needs the freedom to leave, not reconciliation that traps her. o She needs independent investigation, not pressure to forget what she alleges happened. • Central concern about "manufactured peace" A temporary ceasefire followed by forced reconciliation can create the appearance that everything has been resolved while leaving the underlying risks untouched. If the person is then kept in the same environment without independent security or an exit route, the apparent peace could leave her vulnerable to future harm. Therefore, temporary peace must never be treated as equivalent to future safety and security