Our new research, Safety and Survival: How the Work Ban Fuels Violence Against Women Seeking Asylum, shows that women who have fled gender-based violence, including rape, domestic violence, forced marriage and sexual exploitation, are forced into exploitative and harmful situations where they are vulnerable to violence and abuse, as a result of the work ban.
The report, designed and carried out by a team of seven women with personal experience of the UK’s asylum system, including the work ban, uncovered shocking new findings:
❌ Women are being forced to enter or stay in unwanted or abusive relationships as a result of the work ban. Thirty-eight percent of women reported that they had been pushed into or stayed in an unwanted or abusive situation. One woman shared, “It forced me into the situation of living with a man because of no choice. I suffered abuse in that relationship, because I didn’t have anything with me.”
❌ Women are turning to sex work as a result of being banned from working. Eight percent of women turned to sex work as they were unable to meet their basic needs. During her asylum journey, Hassana was made homeless, exploited and forced into sex work. She explained, “I became like a commercial sex worker, to have money. One time I was forced to have unwanted sex so that I would have a place to sleep.”
❌ Women are being forced into exploitative and dangerous situations, becoming more vulnerable to sexual violence, as a result of being banned from work. One woman shared the desperation she felt at being unable to provide for her baby and a dangerous situation she found herself in where she was raped: “I remember going on a date with one man, thinking it was just to get to know him first, but I was raped at that time.” Others felt compelled to take on illicit work in which they were forced into unsafe or degrading conditions.
The impact of such on women’s mental health is particularly damaging, of women surveyed:
❌ 85% felt anxious or depressed
❌ 79% felt hopeless
❌ 67% experienced affected sleep
❌ 43% felt suicidal
Crucially, our research found that overwhelming, women seeking asylum in the UK want to work, with 98% of women saying they desire to work. As one woman shared, “If you give me permission to work, I will be productive. I will be learning. I will be contributing to the country and I will be paying taxes. So, it’s not just for me, it’s for the country as well.”
There is now a clear opportunity for change.
Since coming into power, the Government has made welcome commitments to prioritise survivors of gender-based violence and to ensure they receive the support they need. WRW’s report makes clear that the work ban policy directly undermines these efforts, by placing survivors who are seeking asylum in the UK at risk of further harm, abuse and exploitation.
Women for Refugee Women is calling on the Government to:
(1) Give people seeking asylum, and their adult dependents, the right to work after they have waited for six months for a decision on their asylum claims, unconstrained by the Immigration Salary List.
This would enable women in the asylum system to live in dignity, put their skills and experiences to good use and meaningfully contribute to society while rebuilding their lives in the UK.
Failure to include asylum-seeking survivors within Government commitments – most of whom are from racialised backgrounds – would create a two-tier approach to tackling violence against women, with these women treated as less deserving and so left behind.
The research team of seven women with experience of the UK’s asylum system – Anne Marie Munene, Christine Harris, Deborah Rest, Etracy Rukwava, Goldie Joseph, Hadnet Tesfom Habtemariam and Kaffy Kazep – say:
“As our report shows, survivors of rape and other forms of gender-based violence including domestic violence and sexual exploitation are subjected to further violence and harm in the UK asylum system. The ban on work has trapped women in abusive relationships or situations or forced them into sex work or illicit work. For some, the ban on work has had devastating consequences, including rape, sexual assault and domestic violence.
The work ban also has a hugely negative impact on women’s mental health and wellbeing. As our report shows, 85% of women felt anxious or depressed and 43% felt suicidal. This is a crisis.
We want to work, women seeking safety want to work. Our report showed this overwhelmingly, with 98% of women saying they want to work. Lifting the ban on work wouldn’t only benefit people seeking safety, but it would benefit the wider community and the UK as a whole. We could contribute to the economy, integrate into our communities and support ourselves and our families.
We urge the Government to include survivors who are seeking asylum within their commitments to tackle violence against women and girls. Lifting the ban on work would be a great first step to this. Right to work, right now!”
Andrea Vukovic, Co-Director of Women for Refugee Women, says:
“As troubling as our findings are, it should come as no surprise to policymakers that vulnerable women, when forced into poverty and barred from working to support themselves, are pushed into exploitative and unsafe situations.
It is likely that our research only skims the surface of the level of abuse that women seeking safety are facing. What it has made clear is that the asylum system is failing women. It is perpetuating the cycle of violence and abuse that many have fled their homes trying to escape.
I don’t see how the Government can deliver a strategy on tackling violence against women and girls in good faith without considering the experiences of women in the asylum system. I hope our report acts a wake-up call for decision-makers to re-examine the needs of women seeking safety and ensure they are included in their plans.”
For media enquiries, please contact our Head of Campaigns, Carenza Arnold on carenza@refugeewomen.co.uk or +44 (0)7518 397761. See our press release here.