We’re extremely proud to have co-ordinated an open letter from 52 influential women – including actors, artists, authors, campaigners, comedians and other public figures – urging the Government not to abandon asylum-seeking survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

Read the full letter below:

We, the undersigned, are writing to urge the Government to ensure that its commitment to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG) extends to all women – including those who have sought safety in this country.

Most women seeking asylum in the UK are survivors of gender-based violence, including rape and other sexual violence, domestic violence, forced marriage, sexual exploitation, and female genital cutting. Yet women’s experiences and needs as survivors are often overlooked in the asylum system and they do not receive the support they need to recover.

Instead, asylum policies expose women to further abuse, exploitation and harm – directly undermining the Government’s ability to achieve its promise of halving the rate of VAWG in the next decade. It is vital that the Government includes asylum-seeking survivors within this promise. Otherwise, a two-tier approach will develop, with women seeking asylum, who are predominantly from racialised groups, treated as less deserving and left behind.

To that end, we call on the Government to ensure its upcoming strategy to tackle violence against women and girls includes measures to protect women seeking asylum from further harm and abuse. This includes commitments to:

• Expedite asylum claims for women from high grant-rate countries like Afghanistan, Sudan and Eritrea so they are not left languishing in the asylum system and can start rebuilding their lives;
• Reform asylum accommodation for women so they are no longer housed in unsafe hotels;
• Lift the ban on work so that women seeking asylum are no longer forced into exploitation and abuse;
• End the detention of women seeking asylum and assess their cases in the community.

The Government is right that ‘For far too long governments have treated violence against women and girls as an inevitability instead of the national emergency that it is.’  But this national emergency cannot be addressed without including all women – including those who are seeking safety here.

The stories of women seeking safety in the UK – many of whom experienced exploitation, destitution, detention and persecution – are a powerful reminder that violence does not stop at the border, and neither should our compassion and support for survivors.

Signed,

Mona Arshi

Itab Azzam

Cherie Blair CBE KC

Lotte Bowser

Susie Boyt

Tracy Chevalier

Kirsty Dillon

Sophie Duker

Noma Dumezweni 

Shon Faye

Deborah Frances-White 

Esther Freud

Rebecca Front

Nikita Gill 

Linda Grant

Charli Howard

Rosie Jones

Zahra Joya

Nicola Kelly

Baroness Helena Kennedy KC

Hannah Khalil FRSL

Asma Khan

Rachel Khoo

Olga Koch

Athena Kugblenu

Ola Labib 

Paris Lees

Caroline Lucas

Esther Manito

Gina Martin

Stevie Martin

Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu 

Josie Naughton

Zodwa Nyoni

Cecile Pin

Emma Prempeh

Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Elif Shafak

Faiza Shaheen 

Kamila Shamsie 

Ali Smith

Kate Smurthwaite

Meera Sodha

Lucy Steeds 

Juliet Stevenson 

Patsy Stevenson

Onjali Q. Raúf

Caroline Walker  

Dame Harriet Walter  

Natasha Walter 

Zoë Wanamaker CBE

Laura Whitmore

 

Read more about the letter in The Guardian.