Victims failed by the UK Government

Victims of forced migration and sexual and gender-based violence are being failed by the UK immigration system.

Pictured here are Minister Jane Hutt, Jo Hopkins from Public Health Wales, Jenny Phillimore from Birmingham University and Nancy Lidubwi from Bawso at the launch of the SEREDA report

New research report launched in Cardiff on 24th May 2022 highlights disturbing evidence on the ways that victims of forced migration, sexual and gender-based violence are systematically let down by the UK immigration system. 

The SEREDA project undertaken by Professor Jenny Phillimore of University of Birmingham in partnership with Cardiff University interviewed 13 survivors and 13 service providers including victims referred to Bawso.

The SEREDA project aimed at understanding the experiences of refugees who had fled conflict in search for protection. 

The report notes that whereas some service providers did not have appropriate support systems in place for the victims, in Wales, they tended to refer victims to Bawso for support. This is corroborated by evidence from participating survivors who identified Bawso as the only organisation with the expertise to support survivors of forced migration, sexual and gender-based violence. 

Research findings

The forced migrants interviewed for the SEREDA project were asked about their experiences of SGBV. Some had experienced one discrete incident, while others experienced repeated incidents that occurred at the hands of different perpetrators over time and place. 

Researchers have used the term continuum of violence to describe the ongoing violence experienced by women before, during and after conflict. Some respondents experienced both interpersonal violence (IPV) and other forms of SGBV. A LGBTQIA+ respondent explained how their life was at risk in their country of origin because of their sexual identity. 

Some forms of violence were structural. Incidents included: 

Violence pre-displacement 

• Forced marriage (women and men) and child marriage y Violence and SGBV within families 

• Imprisonment and control 

• Female genital mutilation (FGM) and threat of FGM 

• Rape by individuals or groups 

• IPV by husband and his family 

• Normalisation of violence and impunity for abusers 

• Death threats because of sexual identity

• Modern slavery

Violence in Conflict and Flight

• Physical violence and SGBV by multiple perpetrators 

• Transactional sex and rape by traffickers 

• Being forced to witness sexual assault 

• Enslavement and kidnapping

Violence in Wales 

• Intensification of IPV and use of immigration status to control 

• Discrimination and racist attack 

• Modern slavery and sex trafficking 

• Aggressive and lengthy asylum interviews 

• Relationship between waiting, destitution and psychological disorders 

• Harassment in asylum housing of LGBTQIA+ forced migrants 

• Children at risk of abduction for FGM 

• Detention and criminalisation of victims of modern slavery 

• Insufficient specialist services for survivors – lack of treatment exacerbates conditions

For a detailed report, please use the link below.

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-social-sciences/social-policy/iris/2021/sereda-full-report.pdf

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