The UK asylum system is retraumatising women and girls who have fled rape and sexual abuse and putting them at risk of further harm, leading charities have said.
Sexual violence and abuse is often a major driver for women to leave their country of origin, as well as a common experience on their journey to the UK, but when they get here they are failed, according to Rape Crisis England and Wales (RCEW) and Imkaan.
In their report, titled Not Safe Here, published on Thursday, the charities said women have been retraumatised by asylum interviews akin to interrogations; sharing mixed-sex accommodation, including bedrooms, with unrelated men; poor living conditions and lack of support. Some had faced further sexual violence and abuse while living in asylum accommodation, it said.
Makena*, a survivor of sexual violence and exploitation who is from Sierra Leone, said of her accommodation: “I was scared of the people that I was living with … I was so scared that I was going to be raped, I was scared that I was going to be forced to take drugs, I was scared that they were going to open my door at night … I used to pray every time to God, ‘Please God, get me out of this house.’ It was so traumatising, it was so scary. It was the most scary seven months in my life.”
The charities said they heard of predatory residents and staff who subjected women seeking asylum to intimidation, harassment, racism, violence and abuse, as well as external perpetrators who were able to easily target vulnerable residents.
Such behaviour was facilitated by seemingly inadequately trained staff, ineffective safeguarding, vetting, complaints and misconduct processes, and a lack of access to support for women who wished to complain, the report claimed.
Researchers spoke with four professionals working in the sector, as well as eight women with experience of sexual violence and abuse and living in UK asylum accommodation. Each of the survivors – four of whom had been granted asylum at the time of writing – said they were not believed by Home Office decision-makers.
Josephine*, who is from an Indigenous minority ethnic group violently targeted by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria, said: “I was refused because I was not able to get the evidence of [my daughter’s] circumcision. I said I did not remember the date my daughter was circumcised. So, it’s assumed that I’m lying. I tried my best to get it [the evidence]. So, because of it, I was denied and I was asked to go back to Nigeria.”
The charities said the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 penalised women for delays in making a claim, as well as for the late submission of evidence in support of it, disregarding factors – such as “shame, discomfort or fear” – which can make survivors reticent to disclose sexual violence.
Ciara Bergman, the chief executive officer at RCEW, said: “For anyone to be sexually assaulted, intimidated or exploited at any time in their life is a travesty, and for these experiences to then be repeated and compounded in a system which is both detaining and responsible for protecting them is a scandal.”
Ghadah Alnasseri, an interim co-executive director at Imkaan, said: “Our findings underline the urgent need for reform, emphasising the necessity of safe housing, comprehensive and specialist support services, and vigorous accountability measures.”
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Among other recommendations are abolishing the “no recourse to public funds” policy, which the report said forced women with refused asylum claims into destitution, making them more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are committed to delivering an asylum process that is gender sensitive – building on the wider government strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.
“We work carefully to ensure that the needs and vulnerabilities of those residing in asylum accommodation are identified and considered, including those related to mental health and trauma.”
*Names have been changed
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