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Reason to disbelieve: evaluating the rape claims of women seeking asylum in the UK1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2014

Helen Baillot ,
Sharon Cowan  and
Vanessa E. Munro
Helen Baillot
Affiliation:
Independent researcher
Sharon Cowan*
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Vanessa E. Munro
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
*
s.cowan@ed.ac.uk
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Abstract

Asylum applicants in the UK must show, to a ‘reasonable degree of likelihood’, a well-founded fear of persecution, on the basis of race, religion, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, in the event of return ‘home’. This requirement presents myriad challenges both to claimants and decision-makers. Based on findings from a three-year national study, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, this paper explores those challenges as they relate to women seeking asylum in the UK whose applications include an allegation of rape. The study explored the extent to which difficulties relating to disclosure and credibility, which are well documented in the context of women's sexual assault allegations in the criminal justice system, might be replicated and compounded for female asylum-seekers whose applications include a claim of rape. Findings suggest that the structural and practical obstacles faced in establishing credibility, and the existence of scepticism about rape claims and asylum-seeking more generally, mean that decision-making can often be experienced as arbitrary, unjust, uninformed or contradictory, making it difficult for women asylum applicants who allege rape to find refuge in the UK.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 105 - 139
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

1

The authors are indebted to The Nuffield Foundation for funding this research (AJU/36101) and to Zoe Harper, our research assistant during the data generation stages of the project. Thanks are due to the project's Advisory Board for their time and advice. We would also like to thank all those who generously gave their time and support to the study, whether by being interviewed or facilitating Tribunal observations. We are particularly grateful to the asylum claimants who allowed us to observe their hearings or to otherwise learn about their cases, and to include their experiences in our research.

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