Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

9.18
9.19
9.20
in women entitled to care being wrongly refused care or deterred from seeking care. 40
UKBA policies on dispersal of pregnant asylum seekers do not recognise that this group of
women have complex needs. Dispersal practices significantly reduce women’s access to
maternity services and the likelihood of a safe and healthy pregnancy. 41 (See Article 12 and
Appendix: 7 for further information)
Recommendations:
• All asylum seekers, including those whose claims have been refused, and
undocumented migrants should have access to free NHS healthcare on the basis
of need across the UK until they are given permission to stay in the UK or return to
their country of origin
• New migrants and migrants with insecure status should also have access to free
NHS healthcare on the basis of need across the UK
• The UKBA should revise its policies on dispersal of pregnant asylum seekers to
ensure compatibility with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
(NICE) guidance on maternity care for women with complex social factors
Violence against women and girls in the context of nationality
Between half and three quarters of women asylum seekers have experienced VAWG either in their
country of origin, during transit to the UK, or when in the UK. 42 However, the Government’s VAWG
Action Plan only contains one paragraph on women seeking asylum and another on women with
‘no recourse to public funds’, 43 although following an NGO campaign the latest Action Plan now
has three action points on women seeking asylum out of a total of 110. 44 In addition the strategy is
not clearly placed within the UKBA’s strategic plan, and the UKBA Gender Champion has not had
any obvious responsibility for the sections in the Action Plan related to asylum or migration.
It is widely accepted that many refugee and asylum seeking women who have been subject to
rape and abuse find it hard to talk about their experiences. 45 Despite the UKBA’s own Gender
Guidelines recognising this, ‘late disclosure’ of abuse often leads to refusal of an asylum claim
on the grounds of poor credibility. 46 Despite the recommendations in the Gender Guidelines,
UKBA decision makers often do not have access to, or do not refer to, information on the
position of women in the applicant’s country of origin, and so issues concerning gender-based
persecution such as forced marriage, ‘honour’-based violence (HBV), DV and marital rape and
issues affecting LB women are not understood, or acknowledged to be relevant, especially to LB
40. Bragg R (2013) ‘Vulnerable women and charging for maternity care in the UK – Advocating for Change’ in F. Thomas & J Gideon (eds)
Migration health and inequality, Zed Books: London
41. Maternity Action and Refugee Council (2013) When Maternity Doesn’t Matter: Dispersing pregnant women seeking asylum http://www.
refugeecouncil.org.uk/assets/0002/6402/When_Maternity_Doesn_t_Matter_-_Ref_Council__Maternity_Action_report_Feb2013.pdf
42. Scottish Refugee Council and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2009) Asylum Seeking Women, violence and health http://
genderviolence.lshtm.ac.uk/files/2009/10/Asylum-seeking-Women-Violence-and-Health.pdf; Refugee Council (2009) The vulnerable
women’s project: refugee and asylum seeking women affected by rape or sexual violence – literature review. http://www.refugeecouncil.
org.uk/assets/0001/7039/RC_VWP-report-web.pdf
43. Home Office (2010) Call to End Violence against Woman and Girls. HM Government http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/crime/
call-end-violence-women-girls/vawg-paper?view=Binary
44. Home Office (2013) Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls Action Plan 2013 http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/crime/
call-end-violence-women-girls/vawg-action-plan-2013?view=Binary
45. Bogner, D. et al. (2007) ‘Impact of sexual violence on disclosure during Home Office interviews’, The British Journal of Psychiatry,
191: 75-81 http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/191/1/75.long; Baillot, et al. (2012) ‘’Hearing the Right Gaps’: Enabling and Responding
to Disclosures of Sexual Violence within the UK Asylum Process’, Social and Legal Studies http://sls.sagepub.com/content/
early/2012/05/18/0964663912444945.full.pdf
46. Querton, C. (2012) “It feels like as a woman I’m not welcome’: A gender analysis of UK law, policy and practice. Asylum Aid: London http://
www.asylumaid.org.uk/data/files/ifeelasawoman_reportv2.pdf p 41 - 44
74 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013