(16 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Passo Corese (Rieti), Italy – 11 March 2024
1. Nigerian national Ella Anthony seated on sofa, approached by her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinonso, who kisses her
2. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Ella Anthony, Nigerian national:
"I was forced (by my family) to marry a man, accepting money from him in my absence. When I returned home, my brother and uncles told me that I had to marry this man because he had paid."
3. Various of Anthony caressing dog Paddy ++PARTLY COVERED WITH AUDIO FROM NEXT SHOT++
4. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Ella Anthony, Nigerian national:
++PARTIALLY OVERLAID WITH PREVIOUS SHOT++
"My brother beat me with the help of my uncles. And so at a certain point I couldn’t take all this suffering anymore, and I really tried to commit suicide."
5. Various of Anthony and her partner looking at pictures of them together ++PARTLY COVERED WITH AUDIO FROM NEXT SHOT++
6. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Ella Anthony, Nigerian national:
++PARTIALLY OVERLAID WITH AUDIO FROM PREVIOUS SHOT++
"I wanted it all to end, I wanted to die, because I thought my presence caused them pain."
7. Various of Anthony’s phone, Anthony scrolling through photos of herself ++COVERED WITH AUDIO FROM NEXT SHOT++
8. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Ella Anthony, Nigerian national:
+PARTIALLY OVERLAID WITH PREVIOUS SHOT++
"In 2014, a law came out against homosexuals, which provides for up to 14 years in prison for practicing homosexuality. So my brother really pressed on this, saying that he would send me to prison, that he would go to the police to say that I am homosexual, that he caught me and all that. So when this guy told me that I should abandon the village, I immediately accepted."
11. Anthony caressing her partner’s hair while her partner Chinonso holds Paddy, the dog
12. Couple dancing with Paddy in their living room
STORYLINE:
They smile, love to dance, and play with their dog Paddy in their small but cosy apartment, one hour north of Rome, finally enjoying a new life together, and the freedom to love each other and be who they are.
Ella Anthony and Doris Ezuruike Chinonso crossed the Mediterranean and made it to Italy after suffering violence, fear and discrimination in Nigeria, their home country, where they were persecuted for their homosexuality.
Anthony knew it was time to leave her native Nigeria when she escaped an abusive, forced marriage only to face angry relatives who threatened to turn her in to police because she was gay.
Since Nigeria criminalises same-sex relationships, Anthony fled a possible prison term and headed with her partner to Libya in 2014 and then Italy, where they both won asylum.
Their claim? That they had a well-founded fear of anti-LGBTQ+ persecution back home.
Anthony, 37, said it was precisely the threat of prison that compelled her to leave.
She said her family had sold her into marriage, but that she left the relationship because her husband repeatedly abused her.
When she returned home, her brother and uncles threatened to turn her into police because she was gay.
The fear and alienation drove her first to attempt suicide, and then take up a trafficker’s offer to pay for passage to Europe.
"At a certain point, I couldn’t take all this suffering," Anthony said through tears.
"When this guy told me that I should abandon the village, I immediately accepted," she added.
Despite huge obstacles to win asylum on LGBTQ+ grounds, Anthony and her partner are proof that it can be done, even if the challenges remain significant for so-called "rainbow refugees" like them.
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