The fact that Diana is a transgender woman left her with no chance for a safe life in Belarus. After violence by security forces, she fled the country and now needs support to obtain asylum, undergo PTSD treatment, and begin a full life in safety.
My name is Diana. I lived and worked in Minsk, was involved in creative projects, and helped other transgender people by sharing what I had learned myself. I never thought of myself as an activist, but after 2020 it became clear that in Belarus simply being yourself is already a risk – and after the elections, a deadly one.
Like many others, I couldn’t stay silent when people were beaten in the streets after the presidential election. Later, repression intensified, and it became obvious that any form of “otherness” provokes hatred from the security forces. My transgender identity made me an easy target. There were almost no chances for a normal life left, though I still hoped I could live quietly.
From 2023, I began to be deliberately targeted, even though I had erased all digital traces of my participation in protests, and most friends I marched with had left the country. People in uniform started coming to our home unexpectedly and without any explanation. They could arrive early in the morning or late at night: breaking in, conducting searches, taking my partner and me to the police station checking our phones. No reports, no legal grounds – just a display of power in the style of “we can do anything, and you are nobody.” I understood that for them my gender identity was like a red rag, and that I was in the same risk group as those who openly opposed the regime.
In September 2024, I was detained without any reason while leaving a bar. Patrol officers demanded my documents, saw the male gender marker in my passport – and then it began. At the police station I was humiliated, insulted, threatened with rape, subjected to psychological pressure, and told and done things I will never be able to forget. The International Committee for the Investigation of Torture recognized the actions of the security forces as torture. I was released without any explanation – simply thrown out onto the street. In hysterics, I made it to a friend’s place and for the next two weeks I couldn’t leave the house.
My partner and I understood: if I stayed in Belarus, I would be destroyed both morally and physically. At the police station they made it clear that for people like me there are no laws and no protection. While we were packing our things, the visits from the security forces continued, with direct hints: “Next time it could be worse.” I believed them.
With the help of the organization TG House, we first left for Lithuania and then made our way to France. We are now in the process of applying for asylum. In this status, working is not allowed, and we receive about €300 for the two of us per month – barely enough for food. I live with severe post-traumatic stress disorder: I am startled by loud noises, afraid to be alone, and suffer panic attacks. I want to get treatment and live normally, but without status there is no right to work. And even if I had that right, I am currently not physically able to cope.
I am used to doing everything myself: working, supporting others, somehow surviving. But now I am at a point where I cannot manage without support. To recover, stabilize, and feel safe, I need time and minimal financial assistance for food, necessities, psychological and medical care, and legal support for my asylum procedure. Any help, even the smallest, will allow me to stay afloat and give me the feeling that life can get better.
Thank you to everyone who read my story. And thank you to everyone who can help. This is literally a chance to survive and start living again.
Fundraising goal
€1900
€500 – food and household expenses
€800 – a course of psychotherapy sessions to overcome PTSD
€600 – legal support