Women trapped in cycle of violence by UK law

Most of us would like to think that here in the UK we have measures in place to protect all women from violence and abuse. However, some women are denied access to basic levels of protection and support because of the "no recourse to public funds" rule, trapping them in a cycle of abuse. What is the "no recourse" rule?

'Some things are too important': Pilot project extended Amnesty is delighted that the Home Secretary, Teresa May, announced at a Women's Aid conference on 16 July that 'some things are too important not to do'. Therefore, despite the cuts climate, the government would commit to funding the No Recourse pilot project until March 2011 and find a permanent solution to ensure women are protected thereafter. Amnesty will of course continue to try to work with government to ensure that the pilot meets our needs and addresses some of the weaknesses in the current pilot, but this a major step forward. Take action - Write to your MP to ensure a permanent solution

TAKE ACTION: MAKE PROTECTION A PERMANENT REALITY

In December 2009, following a mass lobby of Parliament, the Government launched a three-month pilot scheme to help women facing violence who have an insecure immigration status - those who are normally denied help by the "no recourse" rule. The pilot allowed the women to access a refuge and seek specialised support. Following campaigning and lobbying, it was extended until August 2010 and then to March 2011.

Take action - Write to your MP to ensure a permanent solution

What is the 'no recourse to public funds' rule?

Under the 'no recourse to public funds' rule, women who arrive in the UK on temporary work permits, student visas, spousal visas or who come here to marry are not entitled to certain state benefits including housing benefit and income support. However, these are the benefits a woman must be able to claim in order to get a place in a refuge. 

As a result, many newly-married women in the UK are trapped in violent marriages. Even if they do muster the courage to seek help from the authorities, they are simply turned away.

'Women must either stay in a violent situation or risk a life dependent on others or on the streets.' Archie Panjabi, star of Bend It Like Beckham

Background to the campaign

Mass lobby

On 4 November 2009, activists went to Parliament to lobby their MPs about how women with insecure immigration status fleeing violence cannot access the benefits they need to get protection and support. The following month, the UK Government agreed to a three month pilot scheme.

• Listen to activists who attended the lobby at Parliament (MP3).
• Read Amnesty's reaction to the project announcement
• Read the Early Day Motion on no recourse to public funds on the UK Parliament website

The UK Government position

The UK government has taken significant steps to address violence against women - particularly domestic violence. In its paper on domestic violence 'Safety and Justice', the Home Office recognised that support and accommodation to victims of domestic violence was 'life saving and critical'.

So the UK government knows it is in the wrong when it fails to protect women arriving in the UK. It introduced a 'domestic violence concession' that was meant to help them, but that didn't work. It failed to address the 'no recourse to public funds rule', which means the women cannot leave the violence because they cannot access funds for alternative housing or income while they attempt to make a claim under the concession. Effectively the concession and the rule cancel each other out.

The government also sent a letter to chief executives of local authorities, but it had no mandatory effect and was not widely disseminated. On two previous occasions the government allocated ad hoc, short-term funding to women's aid, but it soon dried up.

Other states such as Denmark, Austria, the United States and Canada all have a similar rule, but they have built in exceptions, amendments and appropriate long-term sustainable resourcing to ensure that women are not trapped in violence.

One time he is beating me up badly and I felt really, really painful. I took a shower and then he started with me. I asked him to stop and he wouldn't take no. He said that he was my husband and that he could do anything. It is a bad word but he raped me really badly.

A rule that breaches UK human rights obligations is leaving certain women trapped in violent situations. Amnesty International UK and Southall Black Sisters are campaigning to change this.

UK in breach of International Standards

We believe that the government position puts the UK in breach of international human rights standards to which it has signed up. The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) says clearly that states must respect, protect and fulfil all women's human rights, regardless of immigration status or any other factor.

What are we doing about this?

Amnesty International UK has joined its voice with the voices of these women, the refuge workers and the many black and minority ethnic women's groups who have been campaigning and lobbying for years on this subject. We are all calling on the UK government to:

• Allow refuges the funds they need to offer protection from violence to all
  women suffering abuse.
• Provide for an exemption to the 'no recourse' rule to ensure women
  are not forced to remain with a violent partner.
• Develop an integrated strategy for violence against women so as to
  minimise the chance of policy contradictions undermining women's
  rights.

We are campaigning with The Black Southall Sisters and the Women's Resource Centre on this issue. 

Download the report

A report by Amnesty International and the Southall Black Sisters reveals how hundreds of women are trapped in a cycle of abuse, unable to access basic levels of protection and support, simply because of their vulnerable immigration status.