‘To use women’s lives as a political prop while simultaneously advocating for politics that would harm them is hypocrisy at its ugliest.’
Carenza Arnold is Head of Campaigns at Women for Refugee Women
Earlier this week, Nigel Farage made shocking comments that, if in power, Reform UK would detain and deport women and children who are seeking safety in the UK. Not even 24 hours later, Farage appeared to row back on this, stating, “we’re not even discussing women and children at this stage … I didn’t say exempt forever, but at this stage it is not part of our plan for the next five years.” But the damage is already done.
His speech exposed once again the cruelty at the heart of anti-refugee politics in the UK: a disturbing willingness by those in power to sacrifice the dignity and humanity of people seeking safety here to score political points.
At Women for Refugee Women, we know what this means in practice. Every day, we support women who have fled war, persecution and gender-based violence, including rape, domestic violence, forced marriage and female genital cutting. Many arrive in the UK with nothing but hope for a better life, one where they will finally be safe. Instead, they are too often met with hostility, disbelief, forced destitution, and for some, detention.
The harms of immigration detention
Our research of over a decade has consistently revealed the devastating harm caused by immigration detention: anxiety, depression, hopelessness, panic attacks and even suicidal thoughts and actions.
One woman, Voke, shared, “I felt like my life had been taken away from me. I couldn’t see the point of my life anymore, so I tried to kill myself.” For those who are detained like Voke, this traumatic experience can last for days, weeks, months, or even years.
The UK remains the only country in Europe without a time limit on immigration detention, compounding the pain it causes. The UK’s use of detention is a hostile and cruel anomaly. For an MP to talk so flippantly about detaining and deporting women and children without any acknowledgement of this reality is not only callous – it is wilfully blind to the human cost of such policies.
The veil of ‘women’s safety’
Farage and others like him often invoke ‘women’s safety’ as a justification for their anti-immigration stance, reframing vital conversations about violence against women and girls (VAWG) as an issue primarily perpetrated by a stranger – most often painted as a man who is seeking asylum in the UK. This is harmful to us all.
It is an uncomfortable reality that the majority of violence against women and girls is committed by someone known to them: their partner, ex-partner, friend, relative, colleague, or neighbour. The UK is facing a devastating surge in domestic abuse and sexual violence – nearly one in three women experience domestic abuse, sexual offences are at a record high, and one woman is murdered in the UK by a partner or ex-partner every four days. It is therefore unconscionable that those with a public platform, like Farage, are distorting the reality of VAWG into divisive, harmful narratives.
Detention and deportation don’t make women and girls safer
But let us be clear: there is nothing about locking people up in immigration detention – particularly women and children – or forcibly removing them from the UK that makes women and girls safer. In fact, it is precisely this rhetoric that harms them. Farage’s plans to detain and deport “absolutely anyone” would undoubtedly force women and children seeking safety into further harm, abuse or violence – whether that’s back into the hands of traffickers, abusers or oppressive regimes.
Hiding behind the veil of ‘women’s safety’ to peddle anti-migrant rhetoric allows perpetrators of VAWG to hide behind scapegoats and lies and it impedes access to justice for survivors who desperately need it. To use women’s lives as a political prop while simultaneously advocating for politics that would harm them is hypocrisy at its ugliest.
‘A better, safer life for us all’
The UK has a proud history of offering sanctuary to those in need. That history is being corroded by those who seek to weaponise VAWG and scapegoat people seeking safety for political gain. This must stop.
We call on all political leaders to reject this dangerous politics of fear and division and to instead invest in building an asylum system rooted in compassion and justice. This means listening to the voices and experiences of people seeking safety here, ensuring every individual’s asylum claim is assessed in a timely and fair manner, and ensuring that those who gain refugee status in the UK are supported to heal and to rebuild their lives.
The public deserves better than fearmongering dressed up as concern.
People who are fleeing unimaginable trauma who are seeking safety here deserve better than hostile scapegoating and othering.
There is an alternative: a better, safer life for us all.
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