Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

9.37
9.38
Parliamentary Inquiry concluded that life on ‘Section 4’ support (with no cash and the ‘Azure’
card which can be spent in only a limited number of shops) does not ensure a dignified standard
of living for women and their children. 85
UKBA guidelines specify that ‘Section 4’ support should not normally be granted to a pregnant
woman on the basis of physical impediment to travel until six weeks before her expected date of
delivery or the 34th week of pregnancy unless there are complications with the pregnancy but
even in this situation ‘Section 4’ support can be difficult to obtain. (See Article 12)
Case study: 86
One of our pregnant clients [on ‘Section 4’] explained that “I am 7 months pregnant and
I receive the same amount as a single person receives. I couldn’t follow all the medical
checks due to not having enough money to travel.”
Recommendations
• ‘Section 4’ support should be abolished and all destitute refused asylum seekers,
especially pregnant women, should be maintained on ‘Section 95’ cash support
until they are granted status or leave the country
• Accommodation provided under ‘Section 4’ support should be gender sensitive;
safe for women; suitable for pregnancy related needs; and close to women’s
existing community support networks
Women migrant workers
Migration bears great risks for women, many of whom end up at the lower end of the job market.
Female migrants often work as domestic workers, sex workers or in unregulated informal sectors
that do not fall under national labour laws. Migrant domestic workers are particularly vulnerable
to exploitation, trafficking and abuses of their human rights as recognised by the International
Labour Organisation 87 and many international experts. 88 (See Article 6) This results from
migrant’s socio-economic conditions, lack of information about their rights and entitlement
to protection in the UK, their personal family and emotional circumstances, attitudes towards
the police, the low availability of personal and professional networks, but, most of all, from
their immigration legal status. 89 However, from April 2013 there will be no legal aid available
for accessing redress for work based exploitation/abuse (except for trafficked persons). (See
Appendix: 10, Article 11 and Appendix: 28 for further information)
Recommendations:
• Monitor the situation of women migrant workers and ensure that they receive
adequate protection
• Ensure that domestic workers can change employer and obtain permanent
settlement after five years in the UK (as was the case before)
85. 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
86. Refugee Action (2013) Response to the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry on asylum
87. International Labour Organisation (2010) Decent Work for Domestic Workers: Report IV(1). International Labour Office: Geneva http://
www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_104700.pdf
88. See for example Human Rights Council (2010) Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes
and consequences, Gulnara Shahinian http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/slavery/rapporteur/docs/A.HRC.15.20_EN.pdf and Human
Rights Council (2010) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Addendum: Mission to the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4c0623e92.html
89. See Economic and Social Research Council, CSR Project with London Metropolitan University: Migrant workers in the UK Sex Industry
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/research-units/iset/projects/esrc-migrant-workers.cfm#report Accessed: 22/03/13
80 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013