APPENDIX 44
Memorandum submitted by Amnesty International
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Amnesty International is a world-wide
membership movement. Amnesty International's vision is of a world
in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international
human rights instruments. In pursuit of this vision, Amnesty International's
mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing
and ending grave abuses of these rights.
INTRODUCTION
The United Kingdom national section of
Amnesty International (AIUK) has prepared this submission. AIUK
welcomes the decision of the Home Affairs Select Committee to
undertake an inquiry to assess the implementation of the Domestic
Crime and Victims Act 2004. Amnesty International believes that
violence against women is one of the greatest human rights scandals
of our times, with one in three women being beaten, coerced into
sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime.[273]
The experience or threat of violence affects the lives of women
everywhere, cutting across boundaries of wealth, race, and culture.
Addressing violence against women through the human rights framework
specifies government's obligations under international law to
promote and protect all women's rights.
AIUK recognises that violence against
women is a global issue on which we focus and campaign on both
internationally and here in the UK. In the course of campaigning
to end violence against women in the UK, we have found that a
particularly vulnerable group of women attempting to flee violence
are failing to be sufficiently protected and supported by the
UK government due to the effect of the "no recourse to public
funds" rule. This submission contains initial findings from
a forthcoming AIUK report on the impact of the "no recourse
to public funds" rule on women fleeing violence and we hope
this information will encourage the committee to address this
issue during their inquiry.
1. The "no recourse to public
funds rule"
As the committee will be aware the majority
of immigrants entering the UK have restrictions upon their visas,
the most common of which is the "no recourse to public funds"
condition. In most cases they will not be able to claim any of
the benefits, tax credits or housing assistance that count as
public funds.[274]
Usually, women who are fleeing violence and enter refuges are
able to do so by claiming housing benefit to pay for their rent
and income support to provide minimum financial support during
their stay. However, women who have "no recourse to public
funds" cannot claim housing benefit and thus have restricted
access to refuges, which means that they are likely to either
remain in a violent situation or face destitution.
2. Women fleeing violence
who are affected by the "no recourse to public funds"
rule include women from EU Accession countries who have either
been in the UK for less than 12 months or who are not registered
under the Workers Registration Scheme, women who have become overstayers,
some of whom have remained due to the situation of control and
violence, women who have been trafficked into the UK and women
on spouse, student, tourist and work visas.
3. There are no accurate figures
to indicate the number of women fleeing violence who are affected
by the "no recourse to public funds" rule. Unfortunately
most of the figures can only be estimated on the basis of the
numbers of the few women who are able to get access to refuges.
This can happen because the refuge themselves will cover the costs
of their stay or the local authority will accept some responsibility
to house the woman and where relevant their children. During the
course of our research we came across the following estimate/indicatory
figures:
— Scottish Women's
Aid reported in February 2007 that on average 1% of inquires received
by their groups concerned women with no recourse to public funding.
— Southall Black
Sisters in 2006 estimated that there are 600 women in the UK with
insecure immigration status facing violence form their spouse
each year.
— In an ad hoc
survey amongst its group members in 2007, Welsh Women's Aid found
that 2% of all women in refuges had no recourse to public funds.
— In 2006 Women's
Aid refuges across Northern Ireland provided accommodation for
72 women with "no recourse" and their 46 dependents,
most of whom were EU Accession 8 nationals.
— The Home Office
estimated in 2003 that 4,000 women were trafficked into the UK
for sexual exploitation. It is thought the figure may have grown
since.
4. The impact upon victims of domestic
violence
As indicated above it is hard to estimate
the number of women trying to flee violent situations affected
by the "no recourse to public funds" rule, as there
has been no nationwide research or data collection concerning
this issue. Therefore it is impossible to tell how many women
with "no recourse" are calling Women's Aid, Refuge and
other service providers each year. What is clear is that many
service providers will feel compelled to tell women that if they
have "no recourse to public funds" then they are unlikely
to be able to access a refuge. In a situation where it can take
several attempts by a woman to break free from violence, the fact
that she is not guaranteed access to a place of safety has a negative
impact on her ability to escape and can prevent her from even
trying. Research has shown that women in general can suffer up
to 35 incidents of violence before they seek help.[275]
"We are really concerned about a woman,
lets call her Yasmin, who came to us a few months ago. Yasmin
left her husband after months of violence, physical, psychological
and sexual violence, she had attempted suicide twice. We took
her and her two children to the different council departments,
including housing and social services, but they all said that
they wouldn't help because she wasn't entitled. There was already
a woman with no recourse to public funds staying at our refuge
so we couldn't take her on and when we called around neither could
anyone else. The housing department told us to take Yasmin to
claim asylum, so this is what we did but when we took her she
was detained by the Home Office in Liverpool. They wouldn't listen
to us about the support and help she needed and because we had
no where else to place her we didn't know what to do. We then
lost touch with her, the mobile number she had no longer worked.
Then at the beginning of this month [October 2007] we got a call
from a man who claimed to be Yasmin's husband, seemingly she had
gone back to him, but has fled again with the two children. No
one knows where she is and we are really worried about her. We
knew that Yasmin and her children were at risk but we were stopped
from helping".[276]
5. When there is no possibility
of finding an alternative and safe place for the woman to stay,
it greatly reduces the likelihood that she will be able to help
the police with their investigations. The police can be reluctant
to pursue a case where the woman is still in the home with the
perpetrator or his/her family members. In the case of women with
"no recourse to public funds" often the owner or leaseholder
of the family home is a family member not the partner, this means
that the method of ejecting the perpetrator is not used. Furthermore
where a husband is moved out of the home, the woman often feels
extremely unsafe remaining in a property known to the perpetrator,
his family, friends and often the community and would rather be
out of the house herself.
6. As referenced in paragraph
3, where women are able to access a refuge space this is often
because the refuges themselves allocate a space for women with
"no recourse" whose costs they will cover from their
own limited funds. Alternatively the Local Authority covers the
costs. However, during our research it became apparent that more
often than not this only happens after a protracted fight, during
which time the woman has no guarantee of accommodation. Sustained
advocacy by legal advisers is usually required before Local Authorities
accept their obligations to these women. On 16 February 2006 the
Home Office wrote to Local Authorities to inform them that they
may be able to support women subjected to "no recourse"
rule who are fleeing violence. In this letter they listed the
different forms of legislation that they might be able to support
the women under but failed to indicate that any extra funds would
be made available for them to do so. This has not therefore resulted
in guaranteed access to refuges for women fleeing violence who
are subjected to this rule.
7. During the course of our
research AIUK has found that some Local Authorities refuse to
house women and their children affected by the "no recourse
to public funds rule" in any circumstances. Many Local Authorities
do provide women with children support under the obligations deriving
under s 17 of the Children's Act but only on a case-by-case basis.
AIUK have also found that before agreeing to pay for a woman with
children who are fleeing violence and are subjected to the "no
recourse" rule to stay in a refuge, most of the Local Authorities
will first indicate that they could take the child into care in
order to fulfill their obligations. Some women have been told
that their husbands or their families, (that in some instances
are the very perpetrators of the violence against them), could
take the child and they can return home. When presented with these
options, many women fleeing violence will stop pursuing support
from the Local Authority and they will either return to their
husbands or expose themselves to the very real risk of exploitation
amongst other family members or strangers within their community.
"Social workers in London spoke to my husband
to get him to support me. He told them that he would take our
daughter and that I could be deported. They came back and asked
me if I would do this. I said no way I won't give him [a husband
who had beaten her and allowed his mother to beat her in front
of her child] my daughter. Because of my status problem there
is an issue with the refuge, that's why he said give me my daughter
and deport her.[277]
8. Even where Local Authorities
have agreed to provide support for women with children they often
put time limits on the support of two weeks, one month or three
months. When each deadline approaches the fear of losing their
place of safety has a negative effect upon the woman. This could
be solved by ensuring that women fleeing violence have access
to housing benefit and income support in their own right giving
them stability in recovering from the violence they have been
subjected to.
9. Women who have fled without
dependents rarely get support from Local Authorities. In the cases
where women without dependents have managed to escape the violence
it is because either they have managed to access a refuge when
the allocated "no recourse" bed is free or they rely
on extended family members, strangers in the community or finding
work to support themselves. In all of the latter situations they
may remain vulnerable to exploitation.
10. The UK Government Response
In 1999 the Government publicly recognised
the need to provide women with uncertain immigration status a
route through which to secure certain status. They did this by
introducing the domestic violence concession, which was then introduced
in the immigration rules as the Domestic Violence Rule in 2002.
Under the domestic violence rule a woman who is a spouse or long-term
partner of a British national or somebody who is settled here
can apply to stay in the UK permanently if their relationship
breaks down during the two-year probationary period and she can
prove that domestic violence was the cause of the relationship
breakdown. In 2004 the UK Government recognised the problems caused
by the "no recourse" rule and made two payments of £40,000
to a "last resort" fund to deal with the problem. This
money ran out in 2005 and has shown that ad hoc solutions
are not sustainable. These women need certainty—to know
that when they flee violence they can get help.
11. Despite the UK Government's
recognition of the need for the Domestic Violence Rule and some
form of support for women fleeing violence it is failing to enable
women to access safety by guaranteeing them the resources to do
so. This effectively traps women in a cycle of abuse or destitution
and has severe consequences for the women concerned, their children
and those trying to support them. International human rights conferences
and bodies including the Council of Europe have stated that minority
women with uncertain immigration status are particularly vulnerable
and should be accorded greater assistance and protection when
fleeing violence. Other countries have introduced similar provisions
to the UK Domestic Violence Rule but crucially also provide women
with public funds in order to live whilst pending an application.
Although the process is being speeded up, at present it can still
take up to two years for applications under the Domestic Violence
Rule to be considered.
12. How other countries tackle
the issue:
— In Austria any
woman irrespective of her immigration status is entitled to access
a refuge and living costs if she applies for an injunction issues
divorce proceedings on the basis of the violence or obtains a
report from a social institution confirming she is a victim of
domestic violence.
— In Canada, spouses
automatically become permanent residents on arrival, as there
is no probationary period. Spouses whose marriages break down
due to domestic violence are entitled to emergency housing and
living costs. Costs are retrieved from the sponsor, provided there
is no risk of further risk or reprisals against the victim or
dependants. This principle is applied across Canada although there
is minimal variation in application across states and territories.
— In the USA, all
immigrants (including overstayers and illegal entrants) qualify
for federally funded emergency and short-term shelter and housing
programs, as well as other forms of state and federally funded
assistance necessary to "protect life and safety". Shelter
programmes that refuse to accommodate immigrants are liable to
being charged with discrimination in violation of federal law
and losing their federal funding. In the USA, the 1994 Violence
Against Women Act introduced provisions to battered immigrants
to apply for permanent residency in the US if they were subjected
to abuse by the US based spouse or parent. Immigrants suffering
abuse are entitled to obtain access to domestic violence shelters
and depending on state policy to income maintenance, nutrition
assistance and health care pending an application under VAWA 1996.
Maintenance costs are retrieved from the sponsor as in Canada.
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
By not providing adequate support for
these vulnerable women AIUK believes that the UK government is
failing to uphold its international obligations (including the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women) which direct states
to respect, protect and fulfill the human rights of all those
living within their jurisdiction.
We believe that wider immigration concerns
are preventing the government from protecting these women. We
urge the committee to seriously consider recommending that an
amendment might be made should a review of the Act take place,
or whether an alternative piece of legislation or change in practice
could overcome the no recourse rule for women fleeing violence.
AIUK is still consulting with various
stakeholders to develop how the UK government might best address
the no recourse rule for women fleeing violence. Our current thinking
centres around three areas.
Immediate
Until women fleeing violence who are
subject to the "no recourse rule" are guaranteed protection
(either by a change in legislation or practice), the UK Government
should immediately make adequate funds available to service providers
to cover the cost of housing and financially supporting women
with "no recourse".
Medium
In the medium term the Home Office should
make it compulsory upon Local Authorities to provide housing benefit
and income support to all women fleeing violence and give them
the resources to be able to adequately do so.
Long term
The UK Government should either amend
existing legislation or introduce primary or secondary legislation
that guarantees indefinitely the right for women to access safe
and secure housing and financial support while they are fleeing
violence.
19 December 2007
273 Heise, L Ellsberg M and Gottemoeller Ending
Violence Against Women Population reports No 11 1999. Back
274
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applying/generalcaseworking/publicfunds Back
275
www.victimsupport.org.uk Back
276
From an interview with refuge worker dated 19 October 2007. Back
277
5 Interview on September 14 2007. Back
| 
