Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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one. 67 Fearing contact with the police and without a safety net, women can be exploited by
unscrupulous landlords who can abuse these women with impunity. 68 For example, 11% of Latin
Americans work for less than the minimum wage and face high levels of labour exploitation.
Almost half of Latin Americans live in inadequate housing with almost one third sharing their
house with other family, indicating overcrowding. 69
Local Authorities have an obligation to provide support (including accommodation) to avoid
a breach of human rights. 70 Most of the families who receive such support are those who have
overstayed their visa and are waiting for a decision from the UKBA on an application for ILR on
human rights grounds, or women with children fleeing violence who are waiting for a decision
from the UKBA on an application for ILR under the Domestic Violence Rule. 71 There is a shortage
of emergency accommodation and the shelters or hotels offered are usually inappropriate
housing for children. Local Authorities do not receive any central government funding for
providing support and accommodation to these families. Therefore, areas with a high number
of undocumented migrants struggle to reallocate the necessary funds and may not be able
to meet their responsibilities in all cases. In practice, this means turning away families despite
urgent need. There is a high level of discretion and divergence in whether support is provided. 72
Furthermore, if there is no pending application to regularise the person’s stay, the local authority
has the duty to inform the Home Office, so although temporary shelter can be provided to avoid
a breach of human rights, it usually results in the speeding up of immigration removal processes
(detention and deportation). 73 Therefore, for families without an application in process, applying
for local authority assistance is a last resort.
Destitute asylum seeking women specifically may qualify for ‘Section 95’ 74 UKBA support and/
or accommodation and just over 50% of mainstream benefits. 75 Access to accommodation
usually involves dispersal away from existing support networks and services into deprived
areas and poor quality accommodation. 76 Fortunately, UKBA has introduced the provision of a
‘protected period’ of four weeks either side of delivery, during which a pregnant woman or new
mother should not be dispersed. However, perversely, there is a risk that some women will be
held in inappropriate initial accommodation during the protected period despite wishing to be
dispersed to more suitable housing. 77
Sexual harassment is frequently reported by women in initial accommodation provided by
68. Geddie, E. and LeVoy, M. (2012) Strategies to End Double Violence Against Undocumented Women: Protecting Rights and Ensuring Justice.
PICUM: Brussels http://picum.org/picum.org/uploads/publication/Double%20Violence%20Against%20Undocumented%20Women%20
-%20Protecting%20Rights%20and%20Ensuring%20Justice.pdf
69. McIlwaine, C. (2011) No Longer Invisible: The Latin American community in London. Queen Mary University of London, Latin American
Women’s Rights Service and Trust for London. http://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/No%20Longer%20Invisible%20report.pdf
70. As enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/D5CC24A7-DC13-4318-B457-
5C9014916D7A/0/Convention_ENG.pdf / Human Rights Act 1998 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/ contents and relevant
caselaw. Local Authorities do not receive funding from the Government for the provision of such services.
71. No Recourse to Public Funds Network (2011) Social Services Support to People with No Recourse to Public Funds: A National Picture.
http://www.nrpfnetwork.org.uk/policy/Documents/NRPF_national_picture_final.pdf page 4.
72. Contributions from participants during PICUM and Praxis workshop ‘Building Strategies to Protect Children in an Irregular Migration
Situation in the UK’, 6 October 2011, London
73. Lukes, S. (2010) A manual for people advising undocumented migrants. Praxis http://www.praxis.org.uk/manual-for-undocumentedmigrants-page-27.html
page 28-29.
74. UK Border Agency (2013) Allocating Section 95 support http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/
modernised/asylum-support/section-95/allocating-section95?view=Binary
75. Current support rates can be found on the UKBA website http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/asylum/support/cashsupport/
currentsupportamounts/
76. Report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Asylum Support for Children and Young People, January 2013 http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/
sites/default/files/tcs/asylum_support_inquiry_report_final.pdf
77. 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
78 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013