In support of 16 days of action we will be sharing a blog a day to draw attention to the experiences of asylum seeking and refugee women while highlighting ways they can access help.
Take action!
Our 16 day blog will provide insight from our staff and volunteers as well as perspective from others working with asylum seeking and refugee women such as Scottish Women’s Aid, Asylum Aid and the British Red Cross.
Our spectrum of contributors will:
- consider obstacles to ending violence against women, particularly asylum seeking women;
- identify how these barriers can be overcome; and
- highlight changes that need to occur to end violence against women.
16 days of action
16 days of action sees organisations worldwide raising awareness about gender-based violence and importantly calling for the elimination of violence against women.
This vital campaign runs from 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to 10 December (International Human Rights Day), further emphasising that such violence is an abuse of human rights.
Troublingly, the violence that women seeking asylum are exposed to in their home countries often continues during their journey to the UK. Once here, they continue to feel vulnerable as they attempt to navigate a complicated asylum system while struggling to cope with high levels of depression, anxiety and fear. It can also be difficult to remember traumatic events. All of which may negatively affect the outcome of their asylum claim.
Findings provided in our 2009 report with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Asylum-Seeking Women Violence and Health, indicated that 70 per cent of the women interviewed for the research reported having experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. Additionally it revealed these women experienced high levels of depression and stress.
Further to the report findings we have made several recommendations to both the Scottish Government and the Home Office (UKBA). We have also developed multilingual information leaflets for women that identify where to get further advice, support or help if they are experiencing any form of abuse or a mental health problem.
Make your voice heard!
We hope that our blog will inspire you to take action, join or start a campaign or even encourage you to comment or contribute to our 16 day blog posts.
We want to hear from you! If you’d like to contribute to our 16 days of action blog, contact us.
