Decision-making
At the end of June 2025, 14,294 refugee and asylum-seeking women were waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim. Over 53% of these were trapped in limbo while waiting for a decision for over six months.
We campaign for UK asylum decision-making reform, and believe there should be a fair asylum process for women.
We support asylum-seeking and refugee women who have arrived in the UK in pursuit of safety from war, persecution, gender-based violence and other torture.
Instead of being welcomed and supported, women are routinely disbelieved, forced to recount traumatic events, and left in limbo for months – or even years – for their asylum claim to be heard.
We should not shut the door on women in need.
Asylum-seeking and refugee women pursuing safety in the UK should have access to a fair and timely decision that recognises her specific experiences of persecution.
We are campaigning for UK asylum decision-making reform by fighting for:
A dedicated casework unit in the Home Office specialised in gender-based protection claims
A specialist caseworker unit would move women seeking asylum based on SGBV claims through the process quicker, reduce the number of appeals, and reduce the overall cost of the asylum process for women’s cases. This would have a positive impact on both individual women who are seeking gender-based asylum support in the UK, but also on the pressures faced by the Home Office, including the backlog.
The repeal of harmful legislation which makes it more difficult for refugee women to receive the protection they need.
The Government should repeal harmful legislation which has raised the standard of proof and makes it more difficult for women to have their needs recognised and thus receive the protection they need. This includes key elements of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 – particularly Section 32 which introduced the two-stage test for determining refugee status – and the Illegal Migration Act 2023 – particularly Section 59 which introduced inadmissible ‘safe’ countries.
Expedite UK asylum claims for women from high grant-rate countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, and Eritrea by introducing group determinations.
This would move women from these countries through the asylum process quicker, easing pressures on the Home Office operationally and financially, and enabling these women to begin to heal and rebuild their lives.
Data on asylum claims based on SGBV should be published as part of the quarterly Home Office Immigration Statistics.
This is vital to ensuring that there is sufficient transparency and oversight of women’s asylum claims based on SGBV, and to recognise that women have particular and unique experiences of persecution and thus must be treated as a distinct group.
"My name is Beatrice.When I arrived in the UK after fleeing war, I was terrified and completely alone. I had seen so much. Felt so much fear. I was broken.But, no matter how many times I told my truths as part of my application for refugee protection, no one in the UK believed me. For years, the questions kept coming. I was made to feel like I’d done something wrong. My nightmares got worse.But then I discovered the charity Women for Refugee Women. Through their community of sisterhood and solidarity, I improved my English. I learned how to better advocate for myself. I made friends.My application still hasn’t been approved, and the interrogations haven’t stopped. But at least I am no longer alone."
