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.
LETTER to all women MPs: Oppose the new Asylum & Immigration Bill Dear women Members of Parliament, We are writing jointly from the All African Women’s Group (AAWG) and Women Against Rape (WAR) to express our horror at the changes proposed by the Government to asylum and immigration law and policy. Some of these were …
SUBMISSION: To Government on proposed changes to the immigration appeals system May 2026 Executive Summary This submission is made jointly by All African Women’s Group (AAWG) and Women Against Rape (WAR). We oppose proposals which reduce appeal rights, accelerate appeals, create a single appeal route, or weaken the independence of immigration appeals. Our experience supporting …
Submission to the Government Consultation on Earned Settlement All African Women’s Group, Global Women Against Deportations and Women Against Rape’s Asylum from Rape project. Summary All African Women’s Group (AAWG), Global Women Against Deportations (GWAD) and Women Against Rape (WAR) oppose the government’s earned settlement proposal because it is inherently sexist, racist and discriminatory. It …
EVENT: WAR will join All African Women’s Group to Protest and Speak out! WHERE: Taylor House, 88 Rosebery Ave, London EC1R 4QU WHEN: Tues 3 February & Tues 3 March 12.30–1.30pm ORGANISERS: Global Women Against Deportations & All African Women’s Group Politicians and the media have whipped up hatred against asylum seekers and migrants. Now …
They Claimed to Protect Women and Children but they Terrorised Us: All African Women’s Group Speaks Out Against Racist Attacks Women Against Rape helped women speak out about sexually predatory guards in asylum hotels and their justified objections to being housed with men, so that what they experienced could be included in their detailed …
All African Women’s Group: Open letter to the UK government to demand that the Namibia country of origin report be revised . . . At a series of meetings last year, which Women Against Rape helped facilitate, women who had fled rape and other violence including Domestic Violence spoke about being refused protection by the …
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 …
