Summary:
- Influential women in the UK are urging the government to include asylum-seeking women and girls in national strategies to tackle gender-based violence.
- Advocates emphasize the need for these individuals to be part of labor and safety frameworks to prevent gaps in protection.
- The appeal highlights that current governmental policies on immigration do not adequately address the specific risks faced by asylum-seeking women.
- Advocates argue that asylum-seeking women face challenges such as legal limbo, restricted work access, and isolation, increasing their vulnerability to exploitation.
- The appeal coincides with discussions about immigration policy reforms, particularly changes to the Skilled Worker visa route planned for July 2025.
- The call stresses that meaningful protection goes beyond legal status and includes access to housing, work rights, mental health support, and recognition in public policies against violence.
Influential women in the United Kingdom have called on the government to ensure that asylum-seeking women and girls are not left out of national strategies designed to tackle gender-based violence. Their appeal, made public this week, focuses on the urgent need to include these often-overlooked individuals in labour and safety frameworks—with advocates warning that failing to do so leaves a significant gap in protection.
“Women and girls who seek asylum in the UK often do so because they want a life that’s free from violence and abuse,” one campaigner said, according to a public statement shared by the group. “The UK government needs to consider their inclusion in all plans aimed at tackling violence and providing safe, supportive routes into work and community life.”
While details of the proposal remain limited, the core message underscores concerns that governmental policies around immigration—particularly those focused on skilled economic migration—are not adequately addressing the specific risks faced by asylum-seeking women. This cohort, advocates argue, is frequently forced to navigate legal limbo, limited access to work, and prolonged periods of isolation, all of which can exacerbate vulnerability to exploitation and abuse.
Though the UK’s labour strategies increasingly focus on safety and inclusion, campaigners suggest that such frameworks remain ineffective if they fail to integrate those who have fled persecution or domestic violence abroad. “It’s not just about jobs,” one advocate noted. “It’s about dignity, healing, and giving survivors the tools to rebuild.”
The call comes amid a broader national conversation about reforms to immigration policy, including upcoming changes to the Skilled Worker visa route, which will come into force in July 2025. Critics of the reforms have pointed out that while the new rules aim to streamline economic migration, they do little to accommodate asylum seekers or those seeking refuge from violence.
In their appeal, the group of women emphasized that meaningful protection requires more than formal legal status. It means access to housing, the right to work, adequate mental health support—and, crucially, recognition within public policies aimed at tackling violence.
Background:
Here is how this event developed over time:
- February 2025 – The UK government introduces new citizenship rules barring refugees who arrive via irregular routes from obtaining citizenship, regardless of time spent in the country.
- July 2025 – Changes to the Skilled Worker visa come into effect, tightening economic migration pathways and potentially overlooking protections for humanitarian entrants.
- 20 July 2025 – Influential women publicly call on the UK government to include asylum seekers, especially women and girls, in labour initiatives aimed at tackling violence, highlighting the need to consider those fleeing abuse in national policies.