Refugee Women in Europe: Some Aspects of the Legal and Policy Dimensions

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the legal and policy issues affecting refugee and asylum-seeking women in European host societies.First, it explores the unique types of persecution experienced by women and shows that the asylum determination process, along with the status of women relative to men, mitigates against the effective protection of women. The legal basis for asylum, the evidential requirements and the procedural norms all reduce the protection which is likely to be conferred upon asylum-seeking women.Second, the article provides an overview of responses to female refugees and asylum-seekers in European countries of asylum. Although there are differences between countries, there is also a large degree of uniformity. For example, there is a lack of recognition and understanding of the diversity and the range of experiences which refugees bring with them, including different social and cultural norms. Moreover, European policies do not provide special provisions to facilitate the settlement of refugee women and instead place barriers to their social and economic participation.Third, the article examines policies for family reunion in different countries and shows that such unfavourable and unsympathetic policies mitigate against the settlement of refugee women.Finally, the article argues that if refugee and asylum-seeking women are to have their cases recognized and to be successfully settled, then there needs to be a complete rethink of legislation and policy in Europe.

Gender and Refugee Integration: a Quantitative Analysis of Integration and Social Policy Outcomes

“…We argue that understanding integration is important in social policy given that many integration indicators -access to housing, education, employment, health and development of social cohesion -are key components of social policy. Much of the research undertaken to date in the UK has been gender-blind, invisibilising gender and refugee integration 213 the integration outcomes of women refugees in particular (Hunt, 2008;Bloch et al, 2000). In this paper we break new ground by undertaking a gender analysis of the UK's Survey of New Refugees (SNR) exploring multi-dimensional gender differences in access to housing, employment and good health before outlining the need for gender-sensitive integration policy and practice.…”

Women Asylum Seekers and Refugees: Opportunities, Constraints and the Role of Agency

“…This paper seeks to add to this knowledge, with a particular commitment to providing perspectives from women asylum seekers and refugees, whose experiences have sometimes been overlooked, or whose role has been regarded as 'secondary' or 'dependent' (Bloch et al, 2000).…”

The internet, empowerment, and identity: an exploration of participation by refugee women in a Community Internet Project (CIP) in the United Kingdom (UK)

“…Recognised as multiply marginalised (Goodkind & Deacon, 2004), this group of women are subjected to a number of experiences in the UK with debilitating affects to their empowerment and identity. Entering a new social system, they experience greater levels of dependency on their husbands (in some cases propagated by an asylum status dependent on their husband's application); a loss of social support networks; increased loneliness and isolation and increased childcare concerns and responsibilities (Bloch, Galvin, & Harrell-Bond, 2000). In comparison to male counterparts, females suffer greater language and communication barriers (due to past cultural restraints on education); increased levels of fear from abuse within their locality and due to multi-racial mixed-sex accommodation, fear and abuse within their housing (Dumper, 2002a).…”