Gender-sensitive asylum systems across Europe
Thousands of people each year are forced to flee human rights abuses and gender-related persecution abroad. For those who seek sanctuary in Europe, the way their asylum claims are handled can vary drastically from one country to another.
Asylum Aid has long campaigned for the adoption of gender guidance across Europe, so that everyone fleeing gender-related persecution is treated consistently and fairly
Asylum Aid has pushed the Home Office for more than a decade to make the UK asylum system more gender sensitive. We have also campaigned to achieve the same goals across Europe - most recently as leading partners in the 'GenSen' project.
'GenSen' brings Asylum Aid together with leading NGOs from Italy, Spain, France and Hungary, to compare asylum systems in ten EU states. This is the first project of its kind, and measures the impact of the legislation and policies in place in each country and its relevance to people seeking protection from gender-related persecution. Asylum Aid has interviewed women seeking asylum across the country as preparation for the UK report, as well as many advocates working every day with asylum seeking women. Material from this research will also be published independently. In gathering and comparing evidence from across the continent, 'GenSen' hopes to build better practice so that victims of gender-related persecution get the support they need wherever in Europe they claim asylum.
In further recognition of Asylum Aid's expertise across Europe, we also produced the exhaustive briefing used at the experts' meeting held in Paris in September 2011, and from which future advocacy plans have developed. The project, funded by the European Refugee Fund, will conclude with the publication of the comparative analysis, scheduled for early in 2012.
Campaign for gender guidance
The 'GenSen' project builds on many years of Asylum Aid work in Europe.
Asylum Aid knows all too well that EU member states often interpret the Refugee Convention in ways that do not reflect the experiences of people fleeing gender-related persecution. While some Governments have introduced specific gender guidelines intended to overcome this, the Women's Project has campaigned for years for member states throughout the European Union to adopt gender guidance and other policies that better protect anyone at risk of gender-based persecution.
In 2007, the Women's Project worked with the European Women's Lobby and jointly published Asylum is not gender neutral - practical advocacy guide for protecting women seeking asylum. This report aims to encourage member states to interpret EU Qualification and Procedures Directives in a gender-sensitive way, through use of the UNHCR gender guidelines.
The UK Government expressed interest in promoting its own gender guidelines across Europe, and in November 2005 it tabled our paper Gender issues in assessing asylum claims: spreading good practice across the European Union at the Intergovernmental Consultations on Asylum, Refugees and Migration Policies held in Geneva.