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.
#16DaysOfActivism - Human Rights and Migration Policy: an increasing divide
By Maria Monserrat Escudero and Dolores Modern
Human Rights in context
This year, commemorating Human Rights day is critical.
The Human Rights Framework guided governments, policymakers, and societies in general for decades, enshrining the value of human life, dignity and compassion beyond borders. Alarmingly, this consensus is now being challenged globally. In the UK, we can see this clearly with the pledge by some MPs to scrap the Human Rights Act and leave the European Convention on Human Rights. But we don’t need to go this far to put Human Rights at risk. By demonising migration, this government is fuelling the narrative that questions whether we are all deserving of rights and entitlements.
Human Rights are interlinked, and most importantly, inherent to every human being. By alienating certain groups of people from their fundamental rights, we are stripping them from their humanity. In the context of the 16 days of activism, where the importance of eradicating violence against women and girls is in the spotlight, the interconnectedness of Human Rights comes into centre.
The dehumanising effect of the hostile immigration environment
The cruelty of the current hostile environment migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are living in cannot be overstated. Our communities have progressively seen their vulnerability increase for years. And when we thought things could not get much worse, a government many of us had put our hopes in, turned on us.
Migrants have become the scapegoats for state failings of all kinds. We are to blame for the housing crisis, for austerity impacting the working class, for salaries falling and working conditions worsening. There is no evidence that shows that migration has caused any of these issues, or that reducing migration would fix them. However, the idea that migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are impoverishing the UK by taking from British citizens is spun across media, parliamentary debates, and now at dinner tables.
The purpose of these narratives is not to fix the root causes of the issues facing the UK. They are used and exploited to create division, cover failings and gain political support in a context of crisis and concern. These narratives and the policies that derive from them are also an extension of the colonial project, which extracted from and exploited ‘othered’ populations. Now, we see it happening within the UK borders by allowing for the dehumanisation of human beings who have made this country their home, however temporarily.
The real life impact of dehumanising migrants
The downgrading of the Human Rights framework and the narratives that enable this affect everyone. A mother might be afraid to speak to her child in her own language in public. A child might face bullying at school. A worker might fear reporting their employer for abusing their rights. A student might choose not to continue pursuing their education in the UK for fear of violence. This creates a fragmented society, where fear seeps into communities and erodes the trust and solidarity that hold us together. It also opens the door to further curtailing of rights.
For those most at risk, including the women we work with who are survivors of gender-based violence, trafficking, and exploitation, this context makes it even harder to access support, justice, and redress. These women, who are often experiencing intersecting issues related to structural racism and class discrimination, are being systematically failed by this government from multiple fronts. They are the very people the government claims to want to protect.
Migrants Rights and Women’s Rights are Human Rights
There are no humans less deserving of a dignified life. Violence against women and girls will not be eradicated if we, as a society, marginalise women who, due to their immigration status, are subjected to institutional violence and discrimination. The idea of “earning” Human Rights through, for example, increasingly complex conditions for settlement, goes against the commitments this country has taken to abandon the colonial project and become a firm supporter of the advancement of all peoples.
In this context, communities and solidarity networks are taking the role of the state and protecting those most vulnerable. However, charities and communities alone cannot revert the consequences of these curtailments.
But we refuse to lose hope. When in crisis, humanity has thrived by strengthening community bonds, and pulling each other up. The UK was once a leading voice in the adoption of Human Rights globally, being the first nation to ratify the European Convention of Human Rights. We need a government that can take up the mantle, refusing to be blinded by short-term political gain, and steps up to the challenges facing our times.
Everyone deserves to live in dignity. A fair immigration system that offers equal and real protections is the only way to guarantee Human Rights.
Another Autumn Budget, Another year of uncertainty for VAWG services and victim-survivors
Thursday, 27 November 2025
Yesterday’s budget did not mention Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) once – a glaring omission at a time when demand for specialist support is at record levels and victim-survivors have a 60% chance of being turned away from refuge, primarily due to lack of space and the No Recourse to Public Funds condition. Despite a manifesto commitment to halve VAWG, the government’s Budget has provided no new funding for the specialist organisations supporting victim-survivors of VAWG and their children.
With rising demand, higher operational costs, Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) funding cuts, a cost-of-living crisis, and the impact of a previous National Insurance increase, services already under immense strain now face even greater financial pressure. For VAWG organisations delivering life-saving support, this picture means longer waiting lists, reduced support, and in some areas, the real risk of services shutting down entirely. We have already seen 3 Rape Crisis Centres close in the last 12 months, and they remain – as almost all other women’s services do – unsure about their future beyond the end of this financial year.
While we welcome the scrapping of the two-child limit, which also means an end to women needing to 'prove' they were raped in order to qualify for the exemption on the benefit cap, the government’s failure to include support for victim-survivors in the budget is devastating for the thousands of women and children who rely on specialist trauma-informed support every day. It also has significant implications for our economy, productivity, and broader quality of life, if those seeking safety, justice and recovery after experiencing violence cannot secure the support they need, and rebuild their lives.
The government’s continued imposition of short-term, fragmented funding for VAWG services is actively hindering its own commitment to halve VAWG within a decade and undermining frontline work. While the entirety of the VAWG sector is affected, the impact is particularly severe for smaller, specialist ‘by and for’ organisations supporting Black, minoritised and migrant women. These services are six times less likely to receive government funding and operate at a 39% shortfall in funding1, despite generating more than £42 million in public savings each year. Chronic underfunding, combined with a hostile and anti-migrant political environment and increasingly competitive funding systems, continues to place them at severe structural disadvantage.
“‘We've always been in survival mode since 2012, when the austerity measures kicked in and our local authorities stopped funding us [...] The current situation is literally getting us from one year to the next year to the next year’...”
Evidence shows 67% of Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors want ‘by and for services’. These services are not optional add-ons; they are essential, life-saving -and in many cases, the only safe and accessible spaces equipped to provide holistic support to some of the most vulnerable victim-survivors. Yet far too many specialist organisations remain locked out of fair and accessible funding.
As the representatives of leading women's sector organisations, we are yet to see the things we know are needed - long-term, secure funding for all women, including those with No Recourse to Public Funds and recognition and support for Rape Crisis Centres.
Ahead of the publication of the VAWG strategy, we urge the government to:
- Commit a minimum of £502 million of investment in specialist domestic abuse organisations, which should include £222m for refuge services and £280m for community-based services.
- Create national ring-fenced funding for specialist VAWG organisations, including ‘by and for’ services, in line with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s recommendations, including £158.3 million in ring-fenced for Black and minoritised, deaf and disabled, and LGBT+ victim-survivors, and £63.5 million per annum in dedicated funding for victim-survivors with No Recourse to Public Funds.5
- Urgent continuation and substantial increase of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF) fund, with appropriate year on year uplifts, over a 4-year period in line with other commitments.
- Replace short-term, fragmented funding with stable, multi-year funding allows services to plan, retain skilled staff, and meet increasing demand.
- Reform competitive funding and commissioning models to ensure equitable access for all specialist organisations, recognising the distinct role played ‘by and for’ services and the structural inequalities they face.
Without sustainable investment, life-saving VAWG services will continue to operate on the brink, and the government’s commitment to ending VAWG will remain unmet. Victim-survivors deserve better, and specialist organisations cannot continue to shoulder this responsibility without the resources required to keep women and children safe. 
Sources:
[1] https://www.womensaid.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Unsuccessful-referrals-into-refuge.pdf
[2] https://southallblacksisters.org.uk/submissions-campaigns/investing-in-safety/
[3] https://www.imkaan.org.uk/home-affairs-committee-report-response-funding-vawg
LAWRS supports the statement on the weaponisation of VAWG
The statement has been co-ordinated by organisations including End Violence Against Women Coalition, Women for Refugee Women, Hibiscus, Southall Black Sisters and Asylum Matters, and is endorsed by Imkaan and the Step Up Migrant Women Coalition:
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In the last weeks, we have seen how vital conversations about violence against women and girls (VAWG) are being hijacked by an anti-migrant agenda that fuels division, harms survivors and ultimately impedes the real work of tackling the root causes of society-wide violence, to the detriment of women and girls. We write as organisations on the frontlines of combatting VAWG to urge the Government to address this dangerous narrative.
We condemn all acts of violence against women and girls and the immense harm which such acts cause to individuals and communities. The facts about violence against women and girls in the UK are stark:
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Almost one in three women will experience domestic abuse, and sexual offences are at the highest level recorded.
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Two women a week in the UK are murdered by a partner or ex-partner.
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More than 90% of perpetrators of rape and sexual assault are known to their victims.
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One in two rapes against women are carried out by a partner or ex-partner.
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One in three adult survivors of rape experience it in their own home.
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Women who can’t access public funds, such as welfare support or housing assistance - due to No Recourse to Public Funds conditions - are three times more likely to experience VAWG.
We have been alarmed in recent weeks by an increase in unfounded claims made by people in power, and repeated in the media, that hold particular groups as primarily responsible for sexual violence. This not only undermines genuine concerns about women’s safety but also reinforces the damaging myth that the greatest risk of gender-based violence comes from strangers.
Every act of VAWG is a form of injustice. It is an injustice that violence against women and girls is carried out in our workplaces, in our schools, in our streets and most commonly, in our homes. It is an uncomfortable reality that it is committed in every economic group, ethnicity, age and social group, and overwhelmingly by the men who are in women and girls’ lives. VAWG is also perpetrated by people who move to the UK, but the racist idea that this is solely an imported problem flies in the face of women and girls’ daily experiences in the UK.
These horrifying facts must be addressed with sustainable investment in prevention and support services, and by removing state-imposed barriers to support for survivors. Instead, the issue is being hijacked by people seeking to use women and girls’ pain and trauma - and the threat of it - for political gain.
Over recent weeks, people claiming to care about the “safety of women and children” have left families, women and children living in temporary asylum accommodation afraid to leave their front door. They follow in the footsteps of the rioters who used the appalling murder of three young girls as an excuse to bring violence to our streets; with targeted attacks against migrant, minoritised and Muslim communities. That two out of five of those arrested for that disorder themselves had police histories of domestic abuse illustrates not only the pervasiveness of gender-based violence but the disingenuous nature of many of those who claim to have the interests of women and children at heart. Meanwhile, members of Parliament freely share false statistics about the nationality of perpetrators. Government ministers have even endorsed some of this summer’s demonstrators as having ‘legitimate’ concerns, which risks normalising and enabling the spreading of racist narratives by the far-right.
Not only do these falsehoods fail to keep women safe, they serve as a racist distraction that actively impedes the urgent work of addressing gender-based violence. Myths and misconceptions about sexual violence act as a barrier to justice for survivors. Spreading an inaccurate picture of VAWG in the UK allows the people - overwhelmingly men, from all walks of life - who harm women and girls to hide behind racial stereotypes and scapegoating. Meanwhile, hostile immigration policies propped up by this misinformation put many of the most marginalised women and survivors in the UK - racialised, migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women - at even greater risk of harm, destitution, homelessness, exploitation and criminalisation.
The government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls. This is a challenging but achievable ambition, but it cannot be done while lies about its causes are endorsed by those in the highest positions of power - Parliament and the media - and allowed to spread unchecked.
We urge the Government to show leadership in responding to the weaponisation of VAWG, including changing its framing of migration, promoting an accurate picture of violence against women and girls, and holding those who spread misinformation to account. We cannot afford for this agenda to drive further attacks on migrant communities or harm efforts to develop a coherent, effective strategy to address the real causes of gender-based violence. All women and girls deserve for us to face and confront the reality of VAWG, so that we can pave the way in ending it.