Aus Muso Applies For Asylum In Iceland To Escape Sydney's 'Violent Homophobic Streetlife'

An Australian musician who was assaulted in Newtown in 2015 has sought asylum in Iceland with her partner for a chance "to live free of violence, intimidation, the threat of death and various other forms of abuse".

As News Corp reports, transgender women Stephanie McCarthy and Ashley Ihasz have made a formal application for "humanitarian asylum" in Iceland, claiming that the years since the attack on bassist and activist McCarthy have been fraught with continued threats and harassment. 

Writing on a now-closed GoFundMe page that had been attempting to raise $10,000 in financial assistance for the pair, Ihasz explained that the "unprovoked and brutal" assault had left McCarthy "traumatised and with permanent spinal injuries".

Ihasz alleges in the message that McCarthy was not told about the court hearing dates for her attacker and his co-accused, and was denied the opportunity to give a victim impact statement as "warnings to her not to continue efforts to make light [sic] of Sydney's violent homophobic streetlife and the NSW police force's long history of abuse of LGBTIQ citizens".

The message contained accusations that the state police had "continually harassed and threatened" McCarthy — which, according to News Corp, they have vehemently denied — before the pair were "forced … to flee from Australia in fear".

"The NSW Police has zero-tolerance for violence against any member of the LGBTIQ community and rejects any claim to the contrary," a NSW Police spokesman told The Daily Telegraph.

During the legal proceedings over the original attack on McCarthy, she reported that she was threatened outside Newtown Local Court by attacker Alexis Ozanne, who ultimately received no jail time over the assault but was sentenced to 150 hours of community service.

Ihasz and McCarthy say they now face up to an 11-month waiting period before finding out whether their application has been successful.

"We certainly did not ask to take such dramatic actions to ensure our safety and both Stephanie and I feel uncomfortable in asking for help," Ihasz wrote. "But the truth is we have been forced into this situation and we need help."