Women trapped in cycle of violence by UK law

Most of us would like to think that here in the UK, we have measures to protect women from violence and abuse and that these measures apply to all women.

We'd like to think that if a woman - any woman - is repeatedly abused, beaten, humiliated and raped, the law will ensure she can get protection and justice. But it's not like that.

• The problem
• The UK Government position 
• UK in breach of International Standards   
• Download the report

Mass lobby On the 4th November, activists went to Parliament to lobby their MPs because women with insecure immigration status fleeing violence cannot access the benefits they need to get protection and support. Listen to activists who attended the lobby at Parliament (MP3) Watch a clip of the lobby on the Guardian website What's the result? The Home Office's has agreed to a three-month pilot scheme to grant women facing violence and who have insecure immigration status the ability to access a refuge and seek specialised support.  The government initiative will run for three months, and will be followed by an evaluation which will be conducted in March 2010. Read Amnesty's reaction to the project announcement Read the Early Day Motion on no recourse to public funds on the UK Parliament website

Many women come to the UK, often legally, in the hope of improving their lives. They may come on temporary work permits, student visas or spousal visas. Some women come to the UK to marry. The 'no recourse to public funds' rule says that a woman in this position - even if she's married to a British citizen - is not entitled to certain state benefits, including housing benefit and income support.

But these are the benefits a woman must be able to claim to get a place in a refuge if she needs to escape violence. As a result, many newly-married women in the UK are trapped in violent marriages and 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.

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 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.

These women may come on temporary work permits, student visas, spousal visas, or some come to marry. The 'no recourse to public funds' rule says that a woman in this position is not entitled to certain state benefits., the very benefits she needs for a place in a refuge where she could escape violence. As a result, many married women in the UK are trapped in violent marriages, turned away and even where they do muster the courage to seek help.