Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

9.8
remained constant since 2003. In 2011, 5,329 women claimed asylum in their own right and
14,460 men. 8 Despite what the Government has highlighted in its report, evidence shows that
gender issues are not fully considered in the asylum system. In particular, many women are
refused asylum because their accounts of gender-based violence and sexual abuse are not
believed, despite the volume of evidence that it is precisely these kinds of persecution which
applicants find hard to reveal. 9 There are also issues with the current system where evidence
has shown that accelerated decision making procedures (the detained fast track (DFT)) are
unsuitable for complex gender-based claims. 10 More must be done to eliminate discrimination
against refugee women, both in society at large and within their communities, as current
measures taken are not effective and women who have fled to the UK in need of protection are
too often caught in a system that compounds their trauma. .11
Case study: 12
“It is considered reasonable to expect you to recall with consistency the years in which your
family members were killed.”
Refusal letter, UKBA London, June 2010
Recommendation:
Women should not be routed into the detained fast track whilst the risk remains
so high that a woman who has experienced sexual violence will have her claim
inappropriately dealt with
In terms of other migration issues there is a widening gap between the aims of the
Government’s Call to End Violence against Women and Girls 13 and the effect on migrant
women, whether documented or undocumented migrants from inside or outside the European
Economic Area (EEA), of increasingly restrictive immigration rules, cuts in legal aid, and wider
cuts in support services. In particular, the recent changes in the Immigration Rules on family
migration, which purport to ‘define’ how Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
(ECHR) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) duties will be applied, will make
it significantly harder for women to enter the country lawfully, or, once here, to escape violent
and exploitative situations. The withdrawal of legal aid from immigration will also make it harder
for women to challenge negative decisions. (See Appendix: 28) In addition, further restrictions
on legal avenues for migration into the UK, and the tightening of border controls by such means
as biometric documentation, are having drastic results for the most vulnerable women. More
women are likely to enter the country in an irregular way and there are fewer channels for
women to migrate independently, therefore they are placed in a position of dependency and are
vulnerable to violence and sexual abuse. 14 (See General Recommendation 19)
8. Home Office, Immigration Statistics, April to June 2011: Asylum, Table as.03: Asylum applications from main applicants by age, sex and
country of nationality http://tinyurl.com/anh6qqr
9. Walter, N. (2011) ‘I am every woman’, New Statesman, 10th March 2011 http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2011/03/women-asylumrights-saron
10. Human Rights Watch (2010) Fast-Tracked Unfairness: Detention and denial of women asylum seekers in the UK. http://www.hrw.org/
reports/2010/02/24/fast-tracked-unfairness-0
11. See for example Women for Refugee Women (2012) Refused: The experiences of women denied asylum in the UK. http://www.
refugeewomen.com/images/refused.pdf
12. Asylum Aid (2011) Unsustainable: the quality of initial decision making in women’s asylum claims. http://www.asylumaid.org.uk/data/files/
publications/151/UnsustainableWEB.pdf
13. Home Office (2011) Call to End Violence against Woman and Girls: Action Plan. HM Government http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/
publications/crime/call-end-violence-women-girls/vawg-action-plan?view=Binary
14. Jolly, S. and Reeves, H. (2005) Gender and Migration – Overview report. BRIDGE: Brighton http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/CEP-Mig-OR.
pdf
70 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013