Women and girls in the asylum procedure

DRC’s recommendations on asylum procedures for women and girls

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has provided legal aid and counselling to asylum seekers and refugees for many years. Based on our legal aid work in Denmark and international guidelines, DRC has identified seven recommendations which can help ensuring that women and girls get access to fair asylum procedures.

Early information and counselling

1. Women should receive early and targeted information

DRC recommends that the authorities inform women about the possibility of having a female caseworker and interpreter in the asylum procedure. The information should be provided as early as possible and preferably in connection with the registration of the asylum claim.

To organize the interview, it would also be relevant to identify whether any special measures should be considered, including gender-related or cultural challenges in relation to stating the reason for asylum. As an example, a woman who has been the victim of rape or other sexual assault, might find it difficult to explain about her experience to a male interpreter or caseworker.

Trust in the authorities is crucial for the examination of the asylum claim. For women to trust the authorities, it is particularly important that they get information about the duty of confidentiality and that the authorities will not share any information with neither the spouse nor any other family member in case they are part of the woman's asylum motive.

2. Women should get access to independent counselling

DRC recommends that upon registration, female asylum seekers are informed about their right to get independent counselling, including counselling on gender-related issues.

Independent counselling can be particularly important for women because it can support them in understanding the asylum procedure and to be aware of the importance of explaining about their reasons for seeking asylum.

The informal and confidential nature of independent counselling can support the women in establishing trust in the asylum procedure, the role of the authorities and be a prerequisite for women to dare be open about their problems in a way that ensures that the asylum case can be properly informed from the beginning.

UNHCR’s guidelines on gender-related persecution emphasize the importance of women getting access to counselling before the asylum interview. Women need to be informed about the status determination process, how they get access to the procedure and access to legal advice during and this information should be provided in a language and manner that they understand.

Access to independent counselling helps to ensure that the asylum seekers can engage in the asylum procedure and contribute with information that is relevant to their case, thereby allowing for the asylum authorities to issue a correct decision in the first instance.

Asylum procedures must be adapted to gender-related issues

3. Gender-related questions should be incorporated into the application form and used during the interview

To ensure that gender-related issues relevant to the asylum case are uncovered, DRC recommends that the authorities incorporate gender-related questions in the application form and use the same questions during the interviews.

Including gender-related questions can assist the authorities in getting all asylum-relevant information from women who themselves do not always realise that their problems are relevant for their asylum case. Some women may consider their problems part of everyday life, not realising that they could form an asylum motive.

An example could be that a woman who has been indirectly involved in political activities, or who is perceived as having a certain political opinion, so-called imputed political opinion, would not inform about her own risks during the asylum interview, because the questions are usually male-orientated and focus on uncovering the consequences of the direct political activities.

Another example could be that if a female asylum seeker is questioned about whether she has experienced torture, she would not always explain about all the other types of abuse she could fear such as rape, sexual assault, circumcision, honour killings, forced marriage, and abuse within the family.

In situations where a female asylum seeker is accompanied by her husband or another male family member, there is also a risk that the authorities mainly focus on the male asylum motives, while the woman’s individual asylum motive can be overlooked. Such risks make it necessary for the authorities to be proactive and ensure that they allow the women to engage in the asylum procedure and present all their possible asylum motives.

By incorporating gender-related questions in the application form and using the same questions during the interview, the authorities allow for the asylum case to be fully and correctly informed from the start.

4. Clear procedures for the processing of the spouses’ asylum cases

In case a woman arrives together with her spouse, DRC recommends that the authorities have clear procedures for the processing of the spouse’s asylum case to ensure that that woman is protected in case of conflict between the spouses.

Building trust in the authorities and the asylum procedure is particularly important for women, who have been exposed to negative social control and violence. Women with such experiences will usually be anxious about explaining their problems to the authorities due to fear that their spouse and/or another abusive family member will receive the information afterwards.

Asylum interviews with spouses should be help separately and the interviews should follow clear guidelines with certain requirements for the caseworker to allow for the women to understand the procedure and be able to engage.

It is important that the interview is initiated with a thorough introduction about the aim of the asylum interview and the roles and obligations of both the caseworker and the interpreter. The asylum seeker should be assured that the asylum claim will be treated with confidentially and that her statement or parts of it will not be shared with members of her family.

Cases must also be kept separate in the case management system and marked to ensure that all government officials are aware that confidential information from the woman’s statements are not by accident shared with an abusive and/or socially controlling spouse or family member. These procedures are essential for the women to build trust in the procedure, thereby allowing them to dare inform the authorities about social control and violence in the family.

5. The credibility assessment must consider the special circumstances that often apply to women

If gender-related asylum motives are revealed late in the asylum procedure, DRC recommends that the authorities do not automatically consider the new asylum motives as not being credible. The credibility assessment must consider the special situation of the individual woman and her possible motives for not having revealed the asylum motive sooner.

A good practice is found in Denmark where male homosexual asylum seekers usually are met with understanding if this motive only emerges late in the asylum procedure. The authorities know that it can be extremely shameful for the men to talk about their sexuality and thus are met with understanding that such asylum motives might be presented late in the asylum procedure.

Women's issues can also often be perceived as shameful, if they have experienced violence from spouses and/or other male family members, circumcision, forced marriage, violation of national/regional norms for women, or they may have been subjected to violence and rape either in their home country or on the journey to safety.

Women, who come from a male-dominated country where they have not been used to being in contact with the authorities and where the trust in authorities generally may be low, can be sceptical of the asylum authorities and may find it difficult to engage in the asylum procedure and explain about their reasons for asking for international protection.

During the asylum procedure, women will typically become more familiar with the procedure and gain more trust in the national asylum system, making them more willing to disclose information about abuse and violence that otherwise is considered as extremely shameful.

Information that emerges late in the asylum process can often negatively impact the overall credibility assessment of the women’s asylum claims as authorities perceive the new asylum motive as an expansion of the asylum claim instead of supporting evidence.

To ensure that asylum decisions are based on all relevant information, the authorities must consider the special situation of a female asylum seeker when examining her asylum case and assessing the credibility of her claim.

Expert guidance and COI about gender-related asylum motives

6 Asylum authorities should appoint an expert or a coordinator on gender-related issues

DRC recommends that the national authorities appoint a staff with specialised knowledge of gender-related issues who can act as an expert with the mandate to coordinate and guide asylum processing of gender-related issues.

As described above, the examination of a gender-related asylum motive is both sensitive and complex, thereby making it difficult for the individual caseworker to keep a full overview.

The authorities can ask the women to share information about potentially very sensitive and deeply personal issues, so it is important to create a safe and trusting space that allows for the women to engage in the asylum procedure.

When examining the asylum claim, the case worker must consider a gender-sensitive interpretation of the grounds in the 1951 Refugee Convention, such as considering whether refugee states could be recognised based on the Convention ground “particular social group”. In this context, relevant background information about the conditions for women in the specific country must be considered.

It can be difficult for the individual caseworker to have the necessary knowledge of gender-related persecution, as they have many different cases, and their general knowledge often needs to be broad. It would therefore ease the work of the individual caseworker and ensure fair processing of the asylum claim if the authorities appoint an expert or a coordinator on gender-related asylum claims.

The expert or coordinator should be trained in gender-related issues and be responsible for the coordination and guiding of the asylum procedure in relation to asylum claims with gender-related asylum motives.

7. Increased focus on women's conditions when collecting COI

When preparing country reports and other types of country-of-origin information (COI), DRC recommends that the authorities enhance efforts to collect information about the specific conditions for women.

To make a correct decision on gender-related asylum claims, it is necessary to have relevant information about the conditions for women in their home countries. It may be relevant to know about women’s access to the legal system and women's political, social, and economic rights.

It can also be important to know about the cultural and societal expectations to women in the country – and the consequences of not complying with them. Another issue is whether there is any prevention against harmful, traditional practices, how violence against women can be reported, whether protection is available, and what punishment abusers receive etc.