Faith fled her home country in 2005 after being tortured and raped for protesting against the government.
Her name has been changed and details of her nationality omitted for her protection.
When she came to the UK, Faith married a local man but he abused her. In 2019, she reported him to the police.
Now, a fundraiser has been launched by local charity PKAVS to raise £5,000 for her as she seeks asylum in the UK.
It is the first time PKAVS has launched a fundraiser of this kind and the charity hopes the community will come out in support of Faith.
Abusive marriage
Faith initially came to the UK for a family christening and planned to travel to the United States to seek asylum.
Her plans changed, however, when she met the man she would soon marry.
But her husband became physically and sexually abusive, and controlled her and is now in prison after Faith alerted police to what was happening.
Basic needs
Faith has been living on small grants from charities and the support of close friends for over a year.
She is unable to work or claim government support due to her immigration status.
Jenni Keenan of the PKAVS Minority Communities Hub said: “With fewer options for grants and support, Faith is struggling to keep up with her rent which is part of the motivation for the Crowdfunder, besides which she needs support for basic costs like food and utilities.
“She came to our attention via another service we worked with, who called me for support with her case then referred her to us.
“The support from charities has been in the form of small grants, for example from the Red Cross and others who have small hardship funds for situations like hers, but these are only ever a short-term solution.”
Community support
Jenni says Faith did “absolutely the right thing” in speaking out over the abuse she faced and in seeking support.
She has called on the Perth and Kinross community to come together to support Faith amid a lack of long-term help available in the area.
Jenni said: “I think for me the important thing to emphasise is that Faith did absolutely the right thing.
We really need the community that she calls home to pull together.”
Jenni Keenan
“She reported someone who was abusing her, thinking that speaking up was a way out, and then found herself in another impossible situation.
“She wants to work, to earn money for herself and get on with her life.
“The Minority Communities Hub have never launched this type of fundraising for an individual before, but there’s just no support out there for Faith in the long term, and she’s now been waiting over a year to have her immigration status changed.
“We really need the community that she calls home to pull together and offer their support.”
Donations to support Faith can be made on her Crowdfunding page.