Audio CD: Home Office Gender Guidance

This audio is for newly arrived women asylum seekers, and for those who work with them.  It is suited to training, and also to raising many of the issues that surround the rights of women seeking asylum.

It covers the Home Office policy for deciding women’s asylum claims (Gender Guidance), and the consequences if this policy is not followed.  The six tracks can each be used individually (total running time 15 minutes), and are in English only.

Track 1 Women's asylum claims (3:47) Cathy Aitchison interviews Debora Singer, Asylum Aid's Policy and Research Manager, for Refugee Week Radio.  Debora highlights the needs of women in relation to their asylum claims. She quotes Asylum Aid's own research, Lip Service or Implementation? The Home Office Gender Guidance and women's asylum claims in the UK, which demonstrated that the Home Office was failing to implement its own policy on women's asylum claims.

Tracks 2 - 4 Women's experiences Three stories outlining women's experiences, and the effect of not implementing the Gender Guidance in relation to three issues:

Track 2 (1:40) lack of state protection

Track 3 (2:19) internal relocation

Track 4 (2:40) late disclosure

Track 5 Types of persecution (0:41) Some of the human rights abuses specifically encountered by women. According to the Gender Guidance all these types of persecution wil be taken into account when their asylum claims are determined.

Track 6 Gender Guidance: procedural issues (3:55) A woman is about to go for her interview with the Home Office and her friend explains the procedures that should be in place according to the Gender Guidance.

Copies of the CD are available for free by emailing women@asylumaid.org.uk - and we are grateful to anyone who considers making a donation to Asylum Aid.