Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what advice, assistance and representation the Government provides to unsettled asylum-seeking women and children who have experienced gender-based violence.

When an application for asylum is lodged, all asylum seekers are provided with information, in a range of languages, about the asylum process. This leaflet, entitled ‘Information about your asylum application’, includes details on where asylum seekers can obtain information about local legal advisers and local and national voluntary sector organisations that can provide support and assistance.

We have worked closely with partners, including the Refugee Council, to develop a referral process, so that women are formally referred to special counselling services when they disclose issues relating to sexual violence as part of their asylum claim. We intend to monitor this process as part of our commitment to ensure the asylum process is gender sensitive and responsive to the needs of those who have suffered sexual violence in conflict.