Tamil Information Centre (TIC) is delighted to find that women seeking asylum are no longer missed out of the British Government’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy, and a range of improvements can now be anticipated that will benefit them. The Missed Out campaign that the TIC has been involved has proved successful.

The TIC is one of the 331 organisations that endorsed the Charter of Rights of Women Seeking Asylum published by Asylum Aid in 2008 and campaigned for the fair treatment of women asylum seekers fleeing persecution. The Charter called on the Home Office to ensure that women seeking asylum in the UK are treated with fairness, dignity and respect.

This means that the asylum system must recognise the particular issues which force women to seek asylum, and must respond to their particular needs as women.  To achieve this, the Charter promoted practical, gender-sensitive reforms to every stage of the asylum process, from decision-making and support to conditions in detention. 

Today the Home Secretary announced the Government’s revised action plan on ending Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).   The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has committed to a series of new specific actions. 

The government is promising:

• Women who have been victims of sexual violence will be referred for the specialist support that they need. 
   
• Women will have access to a more transparent asylum process, in which clearer information will be available to them. 
   
• Decision-making in women’s cases will be enhanced because of improved training and monitoring of decisions and performance in gender-related cases. 
   
• In addition, decision-making will be improved by enhanced quality of Country of Origin information.

The full action plan can be found at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/crime/call-end-violence-women-girls/vawg-action-plan-2013?view=Binary  The section on asylum is action points 46,47 and 48.

Policy and Research Manager of Asylum Aid,  Debora Singer referring to the campaign said,

“There are a number of positive implications from having these action points in the VAWG strategy.  Ministers have invested political capital in agreeing and honouring these promises. The UKBA is now accountable for these to the Home Secretary and it makes it more likely that the UKBA will prioritise resources to achieve these. In addition it opens up the way for us to lobby for more progress again at a later stage........... But just having these action points written into the VAWG action plan isn’t enough.  With your help, we will be monitoring these to ensure they are implemented. 

Meanwhile we will continue to use the Missed Out brand to highlight the gaps in rights for women seeking asylum”.

Asylum Aid, the UK charity providing free legal representation and advice to asylum seekers.

http://www.asylumaid.org.uk/pages/charterbackground.html