Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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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
9.39 9.40 9.41 9.42 • Do not reduce the regulations of temporary workers but actually ensure that critical sectors such as the catering, cleaning and food processing industries are covered by the regulations Undocumented women General Recommendation 26 90 discusses the host country’s responsibilities to undocumented migrant women, stating that “regardless of the lack of immigration status… States parties have a duty to protect their basic human rights, including humane treatment and access to legal remedies”. Women are disproportionately subjected to abuse and sexual exploitation on their journey to the UK and many organisations have reported systematic abuse against women migrating through irregular channels by immigration guards, smugglers, and other migrants. 91 This abuse is itself traumatising, and should form part of the woman’s case for consideration once she is here. However, the experience of such women once arriving in the UK is often to be disbelieved, and they are subjected to detention and inappropriate fast track procedures to determine their claim. 92 There are also examples of extra-territorial border controls failing women’s protection needs. For example, in 2009, the situation facing undocumented migrants gathering in Calais compelled the British Refugee Council and France Terre d’Asile to conduct a joint fact-finding mission to assess their conditions and access to protections. 93 They identified the notable lack of female interpreters in the area around Calais where makeshift camps had been constructed, and the migrant women they interviewed were unable to obtain any sanitary products, violence counselling or antenatal care. The risk of sexual violence against the women was also of grave concern. 94 Gender vulnerabilities increase the likelihood of migrant women to become undocumented, a status under which they are greatly exposed to systematic violence, abuse and discrimination. The majority of undocumented women arrive to Europe with a regular, but often highly dependent migration status and become undocumented for reasons outside of their own control. 95 The biggest barrier facing undocumented women in the UK is the refusal of the State to prioritise them as victims of violence rather than as immigration offenders. Their status is always at the forefront of their experiences. The structures exist in a way that reinforces the abuse of women, leaving women at risk of further violence and destitution. 96 Undocumented women are also unlikely to report being victims of violence or other crimes. For women who have irregular status and often are unable to speak English, seeking assistance 90. CEDAW General Recommendation No. 26 Women Migrant Workers (forty-second session, 2008) http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/ cedaw/docs/GR_26_on_women_migrant_workers_en.pdf 91. British Refugee Council and France Terre d’Asile (2009) Report of the British Refugee Council and France Terre d’Asile joint fact-finding mission to Calais, September 2009 http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/assets/0001/5916/Calais_report_BESSON-WOOLAS_final.pdf 92. 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 93. British Refugee Council and France Terre d’Asile (2009) Report of the British Refugee Council and France Terre d’Asile joint fact-finding mission to Calais, September 2009 http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/assets/0001/5916/Calais_report_BESSON-WOOLAS_final.pdf 94. 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 95. 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 96. Larasi, M (2012) Imkaan, quote from 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%20 Against%20Undocumented%20Women%20-%20Protecting%20Rights%20and%20Ensuring%20Justice.pdf Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013 81
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Women’s equality in the UK - A he
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Women’s equality in the UK - A he
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Appendices (online only) Appendix 1
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• the continued discrimination ag
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• Develop a common model of analy
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Article 9 - Nationality: One third
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investment in social infrastructure
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and increase the marginalisation of
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have been no prosecutions in Englan
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1 2 3 4 5 Introduction This is a Un
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10 11 12 13 housing crisis, a ‘lo
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1.1 1.2 1.3 Article 1 - Overarching
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1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 Women’
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1.17 1.18 1.19 Young women We are a
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Page 39 and 40: 3.15 3.16 3.17 and accountable EHRC
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13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 children ne
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13.17 13.18 13.19 13.20 Welfare ref
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13.32 13.33 Case study: 57 “As a
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13.36 13.37 allocation of resources
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13.41 13.42 Homelessness, including
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13.47 13.48 BME women would be left
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13.60 13.61 13.62 effect to their p
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14.6 14.7 14.8 disabled and lesbian
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14.14 Gypsy and Traveller women suf
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15.14 15.15 15.16 purport to be vic
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15.28 15.29 15.30 15.31 has not pro
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15.35 15.36 behaviour by male priso
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16.5 16.6 people being forced into
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16.21 16.22 frequently women’s ac
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Recommendations: • Parents with c
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19.6 19.7 19.8 as well as for our c
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19.13 19.14 19.15 19.16 The Governm
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19.22 19.23 19.24 19.25 VAWG is a c
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19.30 19.31 19.32 19.33 DV is still
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19.38 19.39 19.40 perpetrators thro
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19.43 19.44 19.45 Support for victi
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19.49 19.50 19.51 19.52 Recommendat
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19.57 19.58 19.59 19.60 BMER VAWG p
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19.62 19.63 19.64 19.65 VAWG in hea
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19.70 19.71 19.72 Invisibility of s
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19.77 19.78 19.79 A number of repor
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19.85 19.86 means more provision. T
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Annex 1: The Devolved Administratio
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to 41.8% of rural men. 16 Rural are
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Annex 2: The UK’s relationship wi
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Annex 3: UK reservations and declar
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ESA - Employment and Support Allowa
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Annex 5: Acknowledgements Many than
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Women’s Resource Centre is suppor
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