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The Guardian
20-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Influential women urge inclusion of asylum seekers in Labour plans to tackle violence
More than 50 influential women, including actors, authors and comedians, have warned in a letter to the government against the risk of creating a 'two-tier' system to tackle violence against women and girls if tens of thousands of female asylum seekers are left out. Labour has pledged to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade and is due to publish its strategy in September. According to research from the charity Women For Refugee Women, which coordinated the letter, more than 85% of female asylum seekers have been raped or tortured. They are a particularly vulnerable group, who have often suffered violence in the home countries they have fled from and on their journeys seeking safety. Signatories of the letter include Cherie Blair KC, Elif Shafak, Ali Smith, Juliet Stevenson, Laura Whitmore, Zoë Wanamaker, Rosie Jones and the former Green party leader Caroline Lucas. Their message to the government is that violence does not stop at the border. But they warn serious gaps in the UK's asylum process leave many retraumatised by a system exposes them to further harm. They are calling for: Fast-tracking asylum claims for women from high grant-rate countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan and Eritrea. Reforming asylum accommodation so women have somewhere safe to call home. Lifting the ban on work for women seeking asylum to prevent further exploitation and harm. The letter states the government's commitment to halving the rate of violence against women within the next decade is unachievable unless it includes women seeking safety in the UK. It adds that without action the government risks creating a two-tier system, with women seeking asylum treated as less deserving and left behind. 'The government is right to say that violence against women is a national emergency. But this national emergency cannot be tackled without including all women – including those who have sought safety here. Violence doesn't stop at the border and neither should our compassion and support for survivors,' the letter says. Blair said: 'We must create a country and a world where all women and girls are protected from gender-based violence. Women and girls who seek asylum in the UK often do so because they want a life that's free from violence and abuse. The UK government needs to consider their needs as they seek to tackle violence against women and girls and create a safer, more peaceful country for all.' Whitmore said: 'I am proud to have signed this letter to urge the government to include all women – including those seeking asylum here – in its commitment to tackle violence against women. No woman should be left behind when it comes to protection from violence.' The Home Office declined to respond directly to the calls made in the letter for a commitment to include asylum-seeker women and girls in its new strategy. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The scale of violence and abuse suffered by women and girls in this country is nothing less than a national emergency. That's why we have pledged to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. 'We have taken immediate action to increase protection against vile perpetrators. This includes launching a new national centre for violence against women and girls and public protection, Raneem's law, which puts domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms, and new domestic abuse protection orders. 'We will set out further plans in a new, transformative strategy to halve violence against women and girls, which we aim to publish in September.'
The Guardian
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Work ban forcing 10% of UK female asylum seekers into sex work
Women who have fled war are being forced into sex work in the UK because of the extreme poverty of their living conditions here, while almost half cannot afford sanitary products, according to research. In a report looking at the impact of the Home Office's near-total ban on employment for people seeking asylum, the charity Women for Refugee Women has found that 10% of women interviewed have been forced into sex work in order to survive, in many cases to feed their children, while 38% were forced into abusive relationships or situations. Almost half could not afford basics like sanitary products and about 80% could not afford clothes, public transport or phone credit. It is the first research that specifically looks at the impact of the work ban on women. Women make up about a fifth of adults seeking asylum in the UK, and at least two-thirds have experienced rape or other gender-based violence in their home countries. The report, Safety and Survival: How the Work Ban Fuels Violence Against Women Seeking Asylum, interviewed 117 women from 33 different countries about the impact on them of the government's ban on working, which affects most asylum seekers. Ministers have resisted calls to allow people seeking asylum to work if their claims have not been processed within six months, for fears this would create a 'pull factor' to the UK. About 98% of interviewees said they wanted to work and contribute to society. Asylum support levels are now £49.18 a week for those in shared housing or £8.86 a week for people in hotels. After claiming asylum one woman was made homeless, exploited and forced into sex work. 'I became like a commercial sex worker, to have money,' she said, explaining that sometimes she provided sex in exchange for a place to sleep for the night. A second woman who was desperate to provide food for her baby, who was lactose intolerant and could not drink hotel milk, signed up for a dating site in the hope of meeting a man who might help her. She was raped by a man she met on the site. A third took an illegal job as a domestic cleaner. She was paid £1.50 an hour but felt she could not complain because of her immigration status. 'I became like a slave to other people,' she said. The charity is calling on Labour to give people seeking asylum the right to work after they have waited for six months for a decision on their asylum claim to reduce the risk of exploitation here due to having almost no money of their own. The research team of seven women with experience of the UK's asylum system, said: 'As our report shows the ban on work has trapped women in abusive relationships or situations or forced them into sex work or other illicit work. We found that 85% of women felt anxious or depressed and 43% felt suicidal. This is a crisis.' Andrea Vukovic, co-director of Women for Refugee Women, said: 'As troubling as our findings are, it should come as no surprise to policymakers that vulnerable women, when forced into poverty and barred from working to support themselves, are pushed into exploitative and unsafe situations.' A Home Office spokesperson said there are no plans to change existing rules about asylum seekers working. 'We are committed to delivering an asylum that is fair, efficient and sustainable – building on the wider government mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade,' they said. 'The Home Office provides asylum seekers with accommodation and support to meet their essential living needs if they would otherwise be destitute. We work carefully to ensure that the needs and vulnerabilities of those residing in asylum accommodation are identified and with partners on a range of initiatives, for example providing information about safeguarding and signposting to support services.'
