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4 hours ago
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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.”
