Entitled 'Safe Haven', the project is a response to the brutal treatment experienced by some in the UK who have left Islam and become Christians. It offers confidential advice and support to those considering leaving Islam and may even help individuals to relocate. An advertising campaign has been launched to highlight the availability of help.
The launch took place at Church House in Westminster on November 18th and was attended by members of the Church of England's General Synod and representatives of other organisations.
. One of those who spoke at this morning's event, Fiaz, explains: "My own household, my brothers, my parents, they don't want anything to do with me. They'd rather see me dead."
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His own experience has moved him to highlight the problems that others in the UK - especially women - face if they want to leave Islam.
"When a Muslim girl turns away from the culture or the religion itself then it's all about honour. They are at greater risk than the men are," he warns. "There are hundreds and hundreds of women across the country who have turned away from Islam. And there are those who are still at home but they are too afraid to turn away because they don't feel that they have anywhere to go.
"Right now ... there are girls who are beaten, who are abused, and they are afraid to go out and tell others because they feel that if they did and they get caught, that's the end of the road. I came across a girl a year ago and her own brother raped her. She is still at home. If she had an escape route she would take it."
Another supporter of the project explains how, as a ten year old she thought about leaving home but "felt that I couldn't dishonour the family and leave, so I ended up being quite suicidal and didn't talk to anybody and spent all my time on my own."
Now she asks, "it's OK for people when they convert from another religion to Islam. Nobody says: 'I'm going to kill you'. They don't live in fear of their lives. Why is it that when a person leaves an Islamic background, becomes a Christian, why do we have to live in fear of our lives?"
Another woman tells of how, aged 12, she was sent to Bangladesh to enter a forced marriage. When that failed, another attempt was made when she was 16. She recalls:
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"The memory still makes me feel physically sick. If I shut my eyes I can almost smell him and see him sitting opposite me, licking his lips with delight. Incredibly, in the eyes of the Muslim community, this appalling union was going to bring honour to my family. I only just escaped with my life and my sanity intact."
Another speaker at the November event, Nissar, left Islam whilst living in the UK but has received death threats, experienced recurring verbal abuse, had his car burned and house vandalised. When he first went to the police, he was told to "stop being a crusader and move."
'Need a safe place to stay?' An advertising campaign has been launched to coincide with the launch of Save Haven. Under the headlines, 'At Risk', 'Threatened', 'Afraid' and 'Fearful', the adverts read:
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