Joint statement – Southall Black Sisters, EVAW, Hibiscus and LAWRS’ response to the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee report on Settlement, Citizenship and Integration
We welcome the publication of the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee's report on Settlement, Citizenship and Integration, to which we submitted written evidence drawing on decades of frontline experience supporting Black, minoritised and migrant women subjected to violence against women and girls (VAWG).
We welcome the Committee's clear rejection of proposals to extend the standard qualifying period for settlement to 10, 15 or 20 years, and its recommendation that the Government retain the existing five-year route. The Committee rightly recognises that prolonged insecurity does not promote integration or deter migration; instead, it entrenches precarity. We also welcome its conclusion that applying any new rules retrospectively would be "manifestly unfair and may be unlawful".
Despite the rejection of the extension of the qualifying period for settlement and the retrospective application proposal, we are concerned about two recommendations that would have serious consequences for migrant victim-survivors.
First, while retaining the five-year route to settlement, the Committee recommends maintaining the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition until migrant people have lived in the UK for ten years or obtained citizenship. For at least 32,000 victim-survivors of domestic abuse, NRPF is one of the most powerful tools of coercive control, trapping women in abusive relationships by denying them access to safety and support. Extending NRPF beyond settlement would hollow out the security and stability that settlement is meant to provide.
Second, the report's calls for greater cross-government data sharing run directly counter to the firewall victim-survivors need between immigration enforcement and the police, health services and other statutory services they must be able to trust in times of crisis. Without that protection, many women will continue to fear reporting abuse, leaving perpetrators free to act with impunity.
More broadly, we are concerned that the disproportionate impact of these reforms on Black minoristised and migrant women and victim-survivors of VAWG is not sufficiently reflected in the report. Nor does the report adopt our central recommendation: a clear statutory exemption from immigration restrictions for victim-survivors, recognising that no woman should be forced to choose between abuse and destitution.
As the Government prepares its response, we urge it to remove NRPF as a barrier to safety, establish a full, unconditional firewall between public services and immigration enforcement, and introduce a statutory exemption protecting all victim-survivors of VAWG.
Reflections on World Refugee Day
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention. In the aftermath of the displacement crisis caused by the Second World War, a promise of protection to those escaping violence and destruction was embodied in the birth of the right to seek safety. Ratified by 149 countries, the Convention prohibits signatory states from returning people to countries where they face persecution, and highlights the importance of access to support, to work and education, of those affected.
In the UK, this anniversary has been met with a significant rollback of the rights and protections for asylum seekers and refugees. After this year’s announcement of the changes to the asylum system, where refugee protection is to be reviewed every 30 months and with proposals where children from families who are denied asylum claims face losing support and being handcuffed and physically forced out of the UK, honouring the right to seek safety becomes essential.
Migrants and asylum seekers are increasingly being scapegoated for the failed policies of successive governments and the effects of global crises, whilst the compounding impact of decades of austerity measures, of underfunded support services for victims and survivors of violence against women and girls and exploitation, and a cost of living crisis are ignored. In this hostile environment, the realities faced by the individuals seeking asylum become invisible, and the failings of a broken immigration and asylum system are not addressed, which is particularly insidious for migrant women.
The reality is asylum seeking and refugee women face compounded risks: displacement does not pause gender-based violence or exploitation, and often intensifies it. As survivors of violence, of trafficking and persecution, concerns over their safety, support and healing should be at the forefront of conversation when discussing proposals to improve the asylum and immigration system. However, the fragmented support and often revictimising experiences women face when fleeing violence is not being centred. Rather, what support exists right now is being brought into question and gradually dismantled.
Those who have experienced both displacement and abuse need support that understands both. They need a system that will provide safety and protection, not one that will subject them to the risk of removal after years of building a life in the UK. The principles enshrined in the 1951 Convention were put in place to appropriately protect and support extremely vulnerable people whose lives and integrity are at risk, and today it is more important than ever to uphold them.
The asylum and immigration systems can be changed and improved for the better. As we have said before, everyone deserves to live in dignity. A fair immigration and asylum system that offers equal and real protections is the only way to guarantee Human Rights.
A Landmark Opportunity to Transform Support for Migrant Survivors
LAWRS is pleased to announce a new 5-year project that seeks to transform support for migrant victims and survivors of violence against women and girls (VAWG). The project is led by Southall Black Sisters and also comprising Safety4Sisters, Bawso, Shakti Women’s Aid and Foyle Women’s Aid, and funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK. This new UK-wide partnership will be an opportunity to drive policy change at a large scale at both national and local level ensuring migrant survivors' needs are better reflected in law, policy and frontline practices. This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to advancing structural change for Black, minoritised and migrant women, drawing on the combined specialist experience of all organisations in delivering support and change.
For LAWRS, this project marks a significant opportunity to expand work that we have been leading for several years. Through our coordination of the Step Up Migrant Women campaign and our work on safe reporting issues, we have consistently challenged the structural inequalities faced by migrant survivors and advocated for equal access to protection, safety and justice regardless of immigration status.
This work has never been more urgent. Across the UK, migrant victims and survivors face intersecting barriers that increase their risk of abuse, destitution, homelessness and exploitation. Recent immigration policy proposals and changes risk deepening these barriers and further deterring survivors from seeking support.
Current policies continue to prioritise immigration control over women’s safety, leaving migrant survivors excluded from life-saving support and access to justice. Despite growing evidence of these harms, there is still no comprehensive national framework addressing the needs of migrant women experiencing VAWG.
“This partnership presents a critical opportunity for by and for organisations to work together across the four nations to challenge both national and local policies, strengthen accountability and drive systemic change so that migrant women can access safety and support without fear linked to their immigration status.
Despite years of advocacy and evidence building, migrant women continue to face systemic barriers to protection shaped by immigration policies that prioritise control over protection. The government has yet to respond with a comprehensive policy framework that addresses these gaps and truly protects migrant women across services.
For LAWRS, this project is pivotal. This is an opportunity for us to expand years of work on safe reporting mechanisms, led by our Step Up Migrant Women campaign, and to take our knowledge and expertise beyond London at a time when coordinated actions across the UK and the VAWG sector is more urgent than ever.” - Gisela Valle, Director, Latin American Women’s Rights Service
At its core, this work is about transforming systems that have consistently failed migrant survivors. It is about building safety, trust and access to justice for women who are too often excluded from protection because of their immigration status.
This is a pivotal moment. As the government has pledged to halving VAWG within the next decade, it is essential that migrant women are not left out of that commitment. Through this partnership, migrant victims and survivors and specialist ‘by and for’ organisations will be at the heart of change.
Family returns proposals: Cruelty, discrimination and enforced destitution as policy
Trigger warning: Violence against children and death
The proposals outlined in the Home Office’s ‘family returns’ consultation will remove safeguards for migrant families, pushing children into street homelessness, abuse and exploitation.
We unequivocally oppose the use of destitution as a tool of immigration enforcement. Restricting child welfare provisions and forcing social workers to prioritise immigration status over safeguarding concerns will place already vulnerable children at risk of serious harm. These proposals would entrench a two-tier safeguarding system, where children without secure immigration status receive a lower standard of protection and care.
Changes to ‘Section 17’ support
Section 17 support (Children Act 1989) is designed to prevent escalating risks, underpinned by the principle that every child deserves to be safe from abuse and exploitation. Proposed restrictions to the application of Section 17 would prevent social workers from providing ‘child in need’ support to nearly all destitute undocumented children, as an explicit means to force their parents to leave the UK.
Using the safety of children as leverage is abhorrent. It undermines the Home Office’s responsibility to promote the welfare of children in the UK and is irreconcilable with the government’s wider policy objectives - the Home Office cannot fulfil its obligation to reduce child poverty and homelessness if it is actively implementing it as policy design.
Evidence also shows this strategy is ineffective. A previous Home Office pilot using enforced destitution achieved less than a 1% success rate in encouraging removals. Reintroducing this failed model will inevitably cause preventable harm to children.
Use of force policy
We are horrified by the proposal to change the Home Office’s use of force policy to allow physical restraint of children for immigration enforcement purposes, including the handcuffing of children who do not let go of their parent’s hand.
The use of force against children is prohibited to prevent physical and psychological harm. Forced removals are frightening experiences for children, and we do not believe it will be possible for officers to adequately assess ‘risk’ in this scenario. Ultimately, there is no way to physically restrain children without harming their welfare. Despite the existence of safer, less costly alternatives, the Home Office is once again choosing to disregard evidence and safeguarding principles in order to achieve political aims.
Access to legal advice
The proposed changes to asylum support contain a cliff-edge and no right of appeal. Families who are refused section 95A support, or cannot apply within the ‘grace period’, will be forced into street homelessness, without the means to challenge decisions. At the same time, Section 17 support for undocumented families will become conditional and highly restricted.
Most of our service users struggle to access legal representation. Without this, families cannot determine their eligibility or make applications for support or leave to remain. Expecting social workers to make decisions based on immigration matters risks unregulated immigration advice being provided, which is a criminal offence. There are clear risks of fundamental rights breaches in these proposals that will harm vulnerable families.
Support for victims and survivors of violence against women and girls (VAWG)
Despite promising to centre VAWG in all government decision-making, we cannot see any evidence that the dynamics of abuse or the experiences of victims and survivors have been considered in these proposals.
The proposed approach directly mirrors the threats that migrant victims and survivors endure from perpetrators. That, if they do not comply, they will be forced into homelessness. That no one will support them if they ask for help. That they have no rights as victims and survivors of abuse because of their immigration status.
For undocumented mothers - who are excluded from refuges, benefits, employment and housing - Section 17 support is often the only lifeline to flee abuse. Restricting access will not just make victims unsafe, it adds another barrier to justice. Many women have ongoing National Referral Mechanism (NRM) claims or active police investigations. Some victims only feel secure enough to report abuse when they reach safe accommodation. These proposals will make it much harder for perpetrators to be held accountable for serious crimes committed in the UK.
We are also concerned that, in situations where perpetrators have leave to remain and the victims do not, these proposals will be weaponised to further abuse. For example, if victims are pushed into street homelessness or forced to leave the UK, children may end up in the care of the perpetrator. Overriding child welfare considerations will create serious safeguarding incidents in the context of domestic abuse.
It is clear that the UK is following in the footsteps of the US by placing immigration enforcement over child safeguarding in a misguided attempt to garner political support. The recent death of 2-year old Orlín Josué Hernandez Reyes in the US tragically highlights the consequences of this approach. After Orlín's mother was deported despite claiming asylum, her child was left in the custody of an unsafe relative. Safeguarding considerations were ignored, and Orlín was killed¹.
We urge the Home Office to listen to the objections from charities, social workers and local authorities, and to look again at the wealth of evidence weighing against this approach. If these proposals are pushed through, migrant victims and survivors of VAWG and exploitation, and their children, will be at serious risk of harm.
Recommendations
We completely reject the harmful and short-sighted proposals set out under the Family Returns consultation. We call on the government to:
- Maintain Section 17 protections under Children Act 1989
- Maintain existing prohibition on the use of force against children during removals
- Properly consider migrant families in the implementation of cross-government strategies
If the proposals should go ahead, either in part or in full, we urge the government to:
- Urgently publish impact assessments
- Introduce exemptions for victims and survivors of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and exploitation
- Improve access to legal advice and representation to prevent breaches of fundamental rights
References:
1. Marcus, Josh. “ICE blames a mother it deported for her two-year-old son’s alleged murder in the US months later.” Online: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-murder-orlin-hernandez-reyes-florida-b2977904.html
Misinformation, Hostility and Harm: Concerns Over the New Immigration Bill
The King's Speech yesterday, along with the briefing notes published afterwards, outlines the plan to introduce a new Immigration and Asylum Bill to "increase confidence in the security of the immigration and asylum systems".
It is no novelty that this government is trying to win support from the right by taking a hard line against immigration. It is also no surprise that they are using deceitful justifications to do so:
- The government compares a 74% surge in asylum claims in the UK since 2021 with a 26% rise across the European Union. Setting aside the fact that these numbers change massively when comparing with specific countries within the EU, this leaves out some of the key reasons why people would choose to come to the UK, such as family relations or language. Both intrinsically tied to the UK's colonial history.
- They blame asylum-seekers for the cost of accommodation, conveniently erasing from the narrative the fact that costs can add up when people have been waiting in the asylum system for years for a decision without being allowed to work. Asylum seekers want to work, provide for themselves and their families, and contribute to society, and have been calling for this for years.
- A pledge to open safe and legal routes as an alternative to small boat crossings is also mentioned. But while this has been called for from a wide range of sectors for years, successive governments, including this one, have maintained that these already exist and introduced no real changes.
The government claims to seek a fair asylum system. But a fair asylum system cannot by any means be one that increases insecurity and anxiety for those who need respite after fleeing violence, persecution and trauma. The changes already introduced, and those further planned, will undoubtedly cause more harm.
Organisations supporting asylum-seekers have seen first-hand how flawed decision-making can put people's lives at risk. Reducing people's possibilities of challenging those decisions is far from "fair".
Lastly, we are hugely concerned by this government’s rhetoric around the alleged misuse of the modern slavery system. Organisations across the sector have repeatedly asked for evidence of this misuse and, where none has been presented, have instead consistently shown that modern slavery referrals increase as understanding and identification of these crimes improve across different levels of society, and the high number of positive decisions by the same government back this claim.
‘Late’ presentation of evidence is not an indication of misuse. Structural failings prevent victims from accessing timely legal support. The government’s own data demonstrates that almost all (93%) of those referred into the modern slavery system from immigration detention are given a positive first-stage decision¹. When the government continues pushing the narrative that these individuals are abusing legal processes, it deliberately obscures the facts. These legislative proposals will harm and punish victims who have been enslaved, trafficked and exploited, undermining our obligations and allowing perpetrators to continue evading justice.
The reality is that those of us working on the front line know full well that many migrants experiencing trafficking and exploitation choose not to be referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), often due to fear, mistrust, trauma, insecure immigration status, or a lack of understanding of the system. This strongly suggests that the number of people referred into the NRM is, in fact, an underestimation of the true scale of trafficking and modern slavery in the UK, rather than evidence of widespread misuse.
In this uncertain context of political change, it is urgent for the Government to uphold its commitments towards survivors of violence and abuse. Targeting some of the most vulnerable groups of people through misinformation and scapegoating has only resulted in further harm and divide. The immigration and asylum systems can change for the better. For this to happen, transformations need to be survivor-centred, improving support for specialist service delivery, and ensuring those most affected by violence and abuse can rebuild their lives. We continue to call for the Government to abandon the Earned Settlement proposals, rollback on the provisions set out by the asylum reforms published earlier this year and ensure victims of trafficking and modern slavery are appropriately represented and supported.
References:
- Home Office. (March 2023). Modern slavery referrals for people detained for return after arriving in the UK on small boats. Online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modern-slavery-referrals-for-people-detained-for-return-after-arriving-in-the-uk-on-small-boats/, as cited in: International Organization for Migration (December 2025) Modern slavery in the UK: announced policy changes risk leaving victims behind. Online: https://unitedkingdom.iom.int/news/modern-slavery-uk-announced-policy-changes-risk-leaving-victims-behind
#NotInOurName: Tackling the Weaponisation of Violence Against Women and Girls
All women and girls should be able to live a life free from violence. However, many groups are using the issue of violence against women and girls as a way to spread misinformation and hatred, benefiting their own political agendas.
That is why we have teamed up with EVAW, Hibiscus, Imkaan, Women for Refugee Women, Southall Black Sisters, and Asylum Matters, and we are launching a practical guide on the weaponisation of VAWG as part of our #NotInOurName campaign.
What the guide is for
The guide is designed as a practical resource for people who want to challenge harmful falsehoods and have productive conversations with the people in their lives about VAWG and immigration. It provides tools to identify and push back on false narratives that endanger our communities.
Why it matters
Speaking as specialist organisations that stand for women and migrant communities, this weaponisation of VAWG does not benefit victims and survivors. Instead, it creates violence and division. This anti-migrant agenda puts women at risk.
What we are calling for
We need to shift the narrative to one that is accurate, evidence-based and grounded in lived experience. This, however, will take collective action from us all.
Together, we can create change in our communities, standing strong against those who use violence against women and girls to further their anti-migrant and anti-women agendas and demanding accountability from decision makers on this critical issue.
Let’s start the conversation.
Real change is possible
By Dolores Modern
It is now widely recognised that migrant women with insecure immigration status are often prevented by fear from reporting domestic abuse, gender-based violence and exploitation. For nearly a decade, the Step Up Migrant Women campaign has fought for the establishment of a firewall between the police (and other statutory services) and Immigration Enforcement. This reform is not new or radical — it has been tried and tested abroad, and it has been consistently recommended by frontline organisations, independent commissioners, parliamentarians and UN bodies.
In recent months, two significant developments have brought renewed attention to this issue.
In January 2026, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) published its new Information Sharing with Home Office Immigration Enforcement policy. The policy explicitly recognises the need to balance public protection duties with the imperative of building trust among victims and communities.
Under the new framework, the PSNI will restrict the sharing of migrant victims’ and witnesses’ personal data with Immigration Enforcement. Immigration status will only be checked where there are reasonable grounds to suspect a history of serious overseas offending, and where doing so is necessary and proportionate. Crucially, such decisions will be scrutinised at senior level, and referrals must be made in writing to ensure transparency and accountability.
This approach reflects what frontline organisations and key stakeholders — including the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and the Victims’ Commissioner — have long called for: a clear separation between victim protection and immigration control. We congratulate organisations in Northern Ireland who have worked tirelessly to secure this change.
By contrast, the UK Government’s recently published Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy is more ambiguous. Although migrant women are largely absent from the document, it does acknowledge that immigration status can prevent victims from coming forward. This recognition is important. It marks a shift in language and signals awareness of a longstanding barrier.
However, the proposed solution falls short. The Strategy states that police will be required to seek a domestic abuse victim’s consent before sharing their information with Immigration Enforcement.
Our experience supporting survivors of trafficking and exploitation raises serious concerns about this approach. Women referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) must also give their consent to having their data shared with the Home Office. Yet many arrive at our services having been referred into the NRM, yet unaware that they have consented, or without fully understanding the implications. Consent obtained in contexts of fear, trauma, language barriers and power imbalance cannot be assumed to be freely given or informed.
The relationship between migrant communities and the police is shaped by distrust, unequal power and the broader hostile environment. Expecting individual consent to overcome these structural barriers is unrealistic. Without systemic reform, this measure risks being symbolic rather than transformative.
This is not a ‘ground-breaking measure’ — as the VAWG strategy states — but rather a weak attempt at appeasing all those who have been clamoring for a change.
If the Government is serious about enabling victims to report abuse without fear — and about improving enforcement outcomes — it must move beyond consent-based safeguards and establish a genuine firewall between the police and Immigration Enforcement. Labour, when in opposition, was a firm supporter of this.
The PSNI has shown that change is possible. The question now is whether the Government is willing to follow through.
Reflections on International Women’s Day
By Mariana Brandeburgo, Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees at LAWRS
Today we find ourselves in a moment of enormous global and local complexity. The advancement of authoritarianism, disinformation, and polarisation is evident, and we constantly speak about living in times of crisis, fracture, and setbacks.
And yes: political tensions, economic inequalities, structural racism, and the multiple forms of violence that affect women, gender-diverse people, and migrants are real. But so is our determination.
If the history of feminism teaches us anything, it is that there is no context too hostile for those who decide to transform reality. Women, migrants, workers, survivors, caregivers, those who have crossed borders and those who have resisted being forgotten, we have all built the foundations on which LAWRS stands today as an indispensable organisation.
From the suffragists who opened the way to fuller political participation, to the activists who fought for laws against violence, to the feminists who today challenge institutional racism and dehumanising migration systems: the thread is the same. It is not only about conquering rights, but about reimagining the world from our own experiences, from solidarity, dignity, and justice.
LAWRS was born from that conviction: that our lives matter. That migrant women have voice, strength, memory, and a future. And that future is something we weave together: in networks, in trust, and with conviction in our shared vision.
Today, more than ever, we need to reclaim something feminists throughout history have safeguarded: political imagination. Not as a naïve dream, but as the capacity to envision what does not yet exist. To believe that we can inhabit different institutions, more just relationships, and more caring communities. Our leadership is measured not only by the services we provide or the policies we influence, both vital, but by how we ignite hope and creativity in times when fear and exhaustion seem to dominate everything.
To lead today may mean offering a horizon. Inviting others to believe that another way of living, caring for one another, and making decisions is possible. If something distinguishes LAWRS, it is precisely this: that we not only accompany, but mobilise. That we not only denounce, but propose. That we not only respond to urgency, but also imagine tomorrow.
So today, I propose that we commemorate what we have achieved—yes—but above all that we ask ourselves what kind of life we want to live, and what legacy we want to leave. What new forms of leadership, care, and power we want to plant for those who come after us.
The feminists of the past taught us how to claim space in the public sphere. Now, let our task be to rebuild trust in the common good. On that path, LAWRS has an essential role: to be a beacon, a refuge, and a driving force.
Let us continue to lead with imagination.
Let us continue weaving the future with the strength and tenderness that brought us here.
And let us continue celebrating, once again, that when women organise, the course of history changes.
Voices of Young Latinas: Peer Research on Online Abuse and the Impact of Fetishisation
The Young Women’s Advisory Board (YWAB) at LAWRS is launching its latest work: ‘Voices of Young Latinas: Peer Research on online abuse and the impact of fetishisation’.
Who We Are
The YWAB is a group of young Latin American women aged 18-25 dedicated to addressing all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). We approach this work from our unique lived experiences and intersecting identities as migrants, Latin Americans, and young women. By gathering in a safe, collaborative space, we focus on building leadership and advocacy skills, engaging in policy discussions, and increasing our abilities to influence decision-making spaces to benefit young women in our community.
Our Programme and the design of a Peer Research Report
Our YWAB programme ran from May 2025 to February 2026, with twelve training sessions focusing on feminist activism, self-care for activists, understanding VAWG, tech and online abuse, artivism, and peer research methods. These sessions have been guided by LAWRS’ Staff, Partnership for Young London, and the artist Ximena Ruiz del Rio.
Firstly, we conducted focus groups with board members that have lived experience as Latin American women living and/or studying in London. These discussions allowed us to identify common experiences and refine our research topic. We collectively decided to focus on racial fetishisation and online abuse due to its contemporary relevance and connection to our lived experience. This led to our research question:
What is the impact of the fetishisation on TikTok and Instagram of the ‘Latina’ image on the identities of young Latin American women aged 18 to 25 living in London?
To do so, we opted for a mixed methods approach: semi-structured interviews, an online survey and social media content analysis. We carried out 15 semi-structured interviews with Latin American women aged 18-25 living and/or studying in London. To complement the interview data, we conducted an online survey, which received 36 responses of both quantitative and qualitative data. Finally, we conducted a content analysis of social media posts, focused on TikTok and Instagram to identify patterns of racial fetishisation and sexualised representation. With that, we collaboratively wrote this peer research report that includes our key findings and policy recommendations.
Key Findings
Our research revealed the following key findings:
- The fetishised ‘Latina’ image on TikTok and Instagram reinforces a racialised and patriarchal image of Latin American women.
- Social media perpetuates a ‘Latina’ stereotype of being ‘angry’ or ‘feisty’ but also ‘submissive’ and ‘controllable’.
- TikTok and Instagram amplify fetishising content about ‘Latinas’, which means they are consistently exposed to it, reinforcing and normalising harmful stereotypes.
- Hyper-sexualised physical expectations of the ‘Latina’ stereotype on TikTok and Instagram negatively impacts young women’s relationship with their own body.
- Exposure to fetishing content on TikTok and Instagram can create a sense of detachment from the self.
- TikTok and Instagram push colourist and colonial standards of what Latin American women “should” be.
- Fetishing content about ‘Latinas’ on Tiktok and Instagram contributes to feelings of alienation from their community due to narrow and distorted representations.
- The normalisation of fetishing content about ‘Latinas’ on Tiktok and Instagram desensitises and discourages reporting to social media platforms.
- Online fetishisation deters political participation, as it devalues Latin American women’s voices and public involvement.
These findings provide valuable insights into how racial fetishisation and online abuse can shape identity, belonging, and political participation for young Latin American women in the UK.
Policy recommendations
There is an urgent need for coordinated action across multiple levels. Social media platforms must more effectively flag, monitor, and ban fetishising content. Governmental authorities must legislate accordingly to ensure young women’s rights are protected and guaranteed. Other stakeholders, including organisations and educational settings, must promote prevention programmes that equip young people to recognise, challenge, and report such content. Young women must also be supported to acknowledge this form of violence, recognise it as harmful, and feel empowered to report it, in order to mitigate its impact on body image, self-esteem, and sense of identity and belonging. Without intervention, these stereotypes continue to devalue their voices and deter their political participation.
For a more detailed understanding of our research, including a full description of the key findings and policy recommendations, please read our full report here.
Thank you for supporting the voices of young Latinas.
Our Artivism: A Creative Response to Tackle Online Abuse and Fetishisation
As part of our peer research process, we also created a social media campaign that represented our commitment to highlighting how the fetishisation of the ‘Latina’ image is a form of online abuse and the impact it has on the identities of young Latin American women.
Check out the entire campaign, images, and messages on our Instagram pages: Sin Fronteras - LAWRS and LAWRS UK.
Get Involved
If you have any questions or want to participate in our free activities for young Latin American women, we would love to hear from you! Contact us via email at sinfronteras@lawrs.org.uk.
Our activities are open to Latin American girls and young women between 14 and 25 years old living in the UK, including first and second-generation women with Latin American ethnicity and European/UK nationality.
Government’s new VAWG Strategy: Safe Reporting Mechanisms for Victims and Survivors of VAWG
The Government’s new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy raises some concerns, including an oversight of the structural barriers that migrant victims and survivors face, many of which we will be examining and responding to in detail in the coming weeks.
Among the limited provisions for migrant victims and survivors included in the strategy, we welcome the Government’s recognition that safe reporting mechanisms are essential to tackling VAWG. LAWRS, through the Step Up Migrant Women Campaign, has for many years been campaigning for the introduction of a full firewall that would ensure women´s data is safe and reporting a crime would not result in a negative consequence for victims and survivors with insecure immigration status. This call has been echoed by several organisations in the VAWG sector, particularly Southall Black Sisters (SBS) with whom LAWRS has closely collaborated in negotiating with the Home Office. The firewall has also been recommended by the independent bodies that led the investigation of the first super-complaint by Liberty and SBS , Independent Commissioners, and the Government when it was in opposition.
A wealth of evidence shows that migrant women who are victims and survivors of VAWG often fear coming forward because of the risk of their immigration status being prioritised over their safety. For many, immigration status is deliberately weaponised by abusers, who exploit the hostile environment towards migrants to maintain control and silence survivors. Acknowledging that fear of immigration enforcement prevents survivors from reporting abuse is an important and long-overdue step.
The Government’s proposal does not constitute a full firewall. However, LAWRS and SBS’ negotiations with the Home Office have led to the introduction of a requirement to obtain informed consent from the victim/survivor for their data to be shared. This is a significant development in mitigating the current situation where data can be shared without consent, preventing victims and survivors from reporting abuse. We call on the Government to introduce safeguards to ensure that no victim/survivor will be subjected to Immigration Enforcement action where data is shared, and instead they are referred to specialist ‘by and for’ organisations for safety and support. We will be closely monitoring how this is designed, implemented and evaluated. Real protection for migrant victims and survivors depends on robust, trusted safeguards that ensure survivors can seek help without fear. These protections must also extend to other victims of serious crime, including trafficking and exploitation.
We call on the Government to develop this new policy in collaboration with 'by and for' organisations to ensure it is fit for purpose.
Today’s acknowledgement is a clear recognition of the work developed by the Step Up Migrant Women Campaign, supported by 56 organisations, whose advocacy has consistently pushed for survivor-centred, rights-based and evidence-led approaches to ending VAWG.
We thank the survivors and organisations who have been part of our campaign so far. We will not stop until all women can report abuse safely.
