Asylum from Rape and Other Violence

Violence against women is a global problem. We are forced to leave our countries by international policies, which cause famine, war, environmental and economic disaster and genocide. Sharon from Uganda says: women are working 18-20 hours a day; lands and resources are exploited for the global market and military, a major part of the market. For two decades my country has been at war and under military dictatorship. The government diverts resources away from providing basic needs of life into arms, and resorts to borrowing to fund war, whose debt we are still paying. The political work women do is usually not recognised as political. It is dismissed, or denied; our activities are considered "too low level", even though it is that political work which brings us to the attention of the authorities, and without it families and communities could not survive. Rape is the most common weapon used against women when we resist these conditions. Black Women’s Rape Action Project says: An estimated 50% of women seeking asylum in Britain have suffered rape and other violence, often targeted because of political activity against a brutal dictatorship or corrupt regime. No one knows how many women are sent back without ever being able to say what they have suffered.

Neither immigration rights nor anti-debt movements have spelled out the centrality of women and girls to the survival of our communities -- we've contributed many times over and have every right to safety and protection wherever we are. But if we flee to Britain or other Fortress Europe countries we are routinely dismissed by immigration officials as "bogus". We meet disbelief, disrespect, sexism, racism and other hostility and outright hatred. Under the Immigration & Asylum Act, we are denied benefits and forced to live on vouchers and in hostels, dispersed across the country away from our communities and support networks. Some of us are trying to feed and clothe our children on as little as £5 a week. No mother wants to see her child go hungry or cold -- those of us who have to beg, or do illegal work to survive, are then criminalised for providing for our children.

Black, Immigrant and Refugee women's survival and Justice Work

Detention

Impact on Children

The Global Women's Strike Demands

Payment for all caring work; pay equity for all, women and men; paid maternity leave, breastfeeding breaks and other benefits; abolition of Third World debt; accessible clean water and non-polluting technology; healthcare, housing, transport; protection and asylum from all violence and persecution; freedom of movement.   Click here for the full list of demands

Striking statements from other Black and immigrant women

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Black Women's Website against Racist Sexual Violence