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Step 2 of 3:  UK Programmes 


Refugee and Asylum Seeking Women

  1. 1. Background

    • According to the UN, refugee and asylum seeking women are more likely to be affected by violence than any other group of women
    • As a result they are often forced to flee their homes and seek sanctuary elsewhere in the world.

    Comic Relief has a long commitment to supporting refugees and asylum seekers and over the last four years, we have paid special attention to the needs of women who have experienced rape, torture and other forms of violence in their home countries.

    For those who arrive here in the UK, even with the source of persecution behind them, many women are often too frightened or ashamed to tell their stories. Without the support to disclose their traumatic experiences, they are not able to present the full stories behind their claims for asylum, and as a result many women are denied the right to stay. They can then end up living in poverty, becoming destitute and feeling so desperate they are exploited again in the UK or returned to dangerous situations in their home countries.

  2. 2. Aim of the Programme

    This programme aims to provide support for refugee and asylum seeking women who have experienced rape, torture and other forms of violence in their home countries and meets one or more of the outcomes listed below. We are especially keen to make sure that women get the help they need in making their claims for asylum, and also get access to emotional and practical services they need to help rebuild their lives.

    There are two strands to the open programme:

    • Direct support to women

      We will fund support services with the aim of helping women cope better with the trauma they have experienced. This could include services such as counselling, group work or self help support. We will also fund services that help women access legal support, health care and housing for example.

    • Training

      We are also interested in supporting organisations to develop training for people working both in refugee and mainstream organisations to increase their skills, knowledge and practice in working with this vulnerable group. We hope that some of this work may be accredited and will have the potential to be adopted more widely by other organisations.

  3. 3. Outcomes

    The organisations we fund will need to show how their work will help deliver one or more of the following outcomes:

    • Refugee and asylum seeking women will feel more able to cope with the trauma they have experienced

    • Women will get the specialist support they need to make successful applications for asylum around rape, violence and torture

    • Organisations will have increased knowledge of the needs of vulnerable refugee and asylum seeking women and be able to meet their needs more effectively

  4. 4. Who will we fund?

    We welcome applications from a range of agencies who can reach this vulnerable group of women. We will give priority to organisations with a strong track record of working with this group or who can demonstrate a broad understanding of services that are needed.

    We will generally fund work targeting women aged 18 and over, but may consider work with younger women so long as it does not replace services that would be considered a statutory responsibility.

  5. 5. Other Important Information

    If you would like to talk to us about whether your work meets our criteria, please ring us.