back of women in veil  c. Jenny Wicks

This guest blog post was written by Debora Singer of Asylum Aid

Whenever I’ve met with the Refugee Women’s Strategy Group (RWSG) they’ve impressed me with their strong views and focus on achieving change. 

It was through their persistence that the Home Office in Glasgow introduced childcare during asylum interviews and that the national interview guidance now reflects this. Ironically childcare provision in Glasgow is no longer being offered for unclear bureaucratic reasons.

At the same time, the Scottish Refugee Council has been working with the Refugee Council and UNHCR to persuade the Home Office to provide access to counselling for women who’ve experienced sexual violence. A system is almost ready to be piloted in London. But it has taken two years to get this far.

In June 2013, the RWSG produced Making Asylum Work for Women.  I remember the day they presented this to Home Office officials at a major stakeholders meeting in London and how proud I felt to be associated with them. Their recommendations included:

  • a referral mechanism for women who disclose sexual violence at screening to have counselling;
  • women to be informed of their rights and entitlements at all stages of the asylum process;
  • women to be routinely provided with a female decision maker and interpreter;
  • all frontline and decision-making Home Office staff, including interpreters, to be trained to understand gender and trauma; and
  • childcare for all substantive interviews (from babies to 16 years).

It is because of the situations described above, and in line with the RWSG recommendations, that the Women’s Asylum Charter has launched its campaign to close the Protection Gap. RWSG and Scottish Refugee Council (and over 300 more organisations) are part of this Charter.

You may remember all the fanfare over the summer when Angelina Jolie and William Hague came to London to lead the Global Summit.  The summit resulted in an international protocol for women affected by sexual violence during conflict. If you read this, you’ll see that this includes all the measures that the RWSG demanded for women seeking asylum. It is ironic that women abroad can access these measures but if they flee to the UK, they are not guaranteed these provisions.

So the campaign to close the Protection Gap is demanding that these measures be guaranteed for all women seeking asylum in the UK. To support this campaign, please send a postcard for protection to your MP at www.asylumaid.org.uk/protectiongap.

Because women seeking asylum in Scotland deserve better.

Chris Pettigrew
Author: Chris Pettigrew