ASYLUM FROM RAPE
70% of women seeking asylum in the UK have suffered rape and other sexual violence. But women needing safety for themselves and their children face the same brutal lack of care and injustice as women who are raped in the UK. Despite national and international legal precedents recognising gender-based persecution, rape victims still face horrific obstacles in claiming protection for example instead of getting help to overcome, the difficulties they face in speaking about their experiences, these difficulties are used to disbelieve and dismiss their accounts. We found 88% of women are disbelieved by the Home Office. Legal aid cuts have compounded the injustice they face, denying them representation at hearings and expert reports which could corroborate their claims. See our research documenting this.
Press: The Independent spotlights Duncan Lewis legal challenge against Home Office’s Citizenship Policy. WAR quoted: Rules that make it almost impossible for small boat refugees to become British citizens have been hit by a legal challenge, The Independent can reveal. New guidance issued in February stated that anyone who enters the UK illegally by making …
The letter came through with her travel vouchers and Amy began to panic. The Home Office was asking her to come in for an interview to speak about her asylum case. It was one of four requests from the Home Office, made in the space of four and a half months between December and April …
Campaigners worry women seeking asylum are being harmed and wrongly refused claims for protection. Women seeking asylum after experiencing rape are reporting further traumatisation by the Home Office’s interviewing process. At these meetings, women recall being forced to rehash the sexual violence they have experienced to interviewers they believe to be insensitive to their trauma. …
Crissie Amiss on “The No Walls” Podcast In celebration of International Women’s Day 2023, the No Walls Podcast asked Cristel Amiss – joint coordinator of Women Against Rape – to speak with them. Cristel has had a remarkable three decade career, where she has constantly and fearlessly advocated for marginalised women and survivors of gender …
Event: Europe wide action called by Refugees in Libya On Tuesday 10th January a lively group of people gathered outside the London offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as part of a Europe-wide action called by Refugees in Libya. Protestors gathered simultaneously outside UNHCR Berlin, Brussels, Rome and Tripoli to commemorate …
Activists respond to news that a man died after his health deteriorated in Manston Please see another important press release below from Action Against Detention & Deportations. The death of a man who spent a week incarcerated in Manston detention camp means that a mother has lost her precious son. The immigration authorities remain suspiciously …
‘SHUT MANSTON DOWN’: GROUPS DEMAND END TO DETENTION CAMP Dear friends, Please see the important press release below from Action Against Detention & Deportations. We are part of this coalition which helped expose the conditions that children, women and men are enduring in Manston detention camp. We would be glad for your help in circulating the …
Event : Third National Protest to close down Derwentside/Hassockfield – Sat 15 Oct Dear friends, This Saturday, 15 October, the third National Protest to close down Derwentside is being held. Speakers include All African Women’s Group (AAWG) many of whom have been in detention and threatened with deportation and other members of Global Women Against …
Action Against Detention & Deportations Saturday 10 September, we will be protesting at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Centre to close down detention centres, #StopRwandaplan; the Borders Act which attacks everyone’s right to asylum and protection in the UK. We’re helping organise protests as part of Action Against Detention & Deportations – more details here https://linktr.ee/nodeportations. Last weekend …
The deportation flight to Rwanda was stopped – a victory for our movement which protested, petitioned and lobbied outside detention centres, the Home Office and around the UK. Legal appeals were bolstered and lawyers hopefully emboldened resulting in the European Court of Human Rights ruling at the last minute that people making an asylum claim …
