We CAN make a difference! - The Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds Campaign.

The Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds Campaign has had a significant impact on women who are covered by this rule and the organisations that support them. The campaign has gone from strength to strength, involving more and more organisations and activists and getting its voice heard within Government. This is a brief look at the birth of the campaign, its achievements and the current situation in the UK:

• In September 2003 no recourse to public funds was raised at the first WRC Policy Forum meeting as an ongoing issue for women.
• This led, in June 2004, to training on women with no recourse to public funds and a strategy meeting around this issue held jointly with Southall Black Sisters.
• In 2006 How Can I Support Her?, a resource pack to help women's organisations supporting women with no recourse, was published by Southall Black Sisters and WRC.
• And in November 2007 the Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds Campaign was launched.
• On 14 January 2008, EDM 693 on Black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee women and domestic violence was tabled by Linda Riordan MP and signed by 113 MPs.
• In March 2008 the No Recourse, No Safety report was published by Southall Black Sisters and Amnesty International UK, detailing for the first time the situation for women trapped by the rule. Parliamentary questions were also asked for the first time about no recourse.
• On April 23 2008 the first mass day of action on no recourse was held. This emerged out of the idea of having a strike as immigration laws and policies were preventing women’s refuges from doing the job they were set up to do, they have to use their reserves, making them unsustainable and they have to turn women away. To reflect this, campaign organisations closed for the day and informed the press and public why. Letters were also sent to MPs and there were actions in Leicester and Belfast. Over 200 people attended a public meeting and silent demonstration outside Portcullis House with women travelling from Sheffield, Rochdale and around London.
• And following this in April 2008 the Home Office made their first proposal on backdating payments for women accessing support.
• In July 2008 no recourse was raised in the examination of the UK Government by the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and was a final recommendation to the Government.
• In November 2008 campaign members met with the Home Office to discuss their proposals and began a dialogue around this.
• In January 2009 Southall Black Sisters launched a fund for women with no recourse in London funded by Oxfam and London Councils.
• In May 2009 campaign supporters sent letters and over 10,000 supporter postcards were sent to Alan Campbell MP by Amnesty.
• On 4 November 2009 Amnesty led a mass lobby of Parliament on no recourse. Approximately 200 activists visited 75 MPs with various different responses and follow-up actions.
• On 24 November 2009 Jo Swinson MP tabled EDM 214 on no recourse which currently has 107 signatures.
• On 25 November 2009 the Government’s National Violence Against Women Strategy was launched, which included women with no recourse, and a pilot project to support these women was announced.
• On 30 November 2009 the three month Sojourner Project pilot was launched providing accommodation and subsistence support while applications for indefinite leave to remain are submitted and processed.
• After the campaign group met with the Home Office the pilot was extended until the end of March 2010 and then further extended until the end of August 2010, mid September 2010 and finally the end of March 2011!
• The Coalition Government have continued to express their commitment to find a permanent solution so watch this space!

The Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds Campaign is a good example of how a successful campaign can build from the grassroots needs of women and women’s organisations. The extension of the Sojourner Project is a huge success as this means that more women can be protected and supported to leave abusive situations and receive safety in the UK. But it is still not enough. Many women still fall through the gaps and cannot access this support. Ultimately the campaign is still fighting for the no recourse requirement to be abolished for abused women who have insecure immigration status.

The campaign is also calling on the Government to:
• Provide a permanent and long term solution, enabling all women to have living expenses and access to refuges and local authority accommodation pending a final decision on applications to remain in the UK.
• Reform the Domestic Violence Rule so that all types of evidence of domestic violence are accepted.
• Extend the Domestic Violence Rule to all abused women with an insecure immigration status and introduce similar protection for trafficked women subjected to sexual and economic abuse and to overseas domestic workers experiencing violence from employers.
• Provide adequate levels of legal aid so that there is access to good quality legal advice and assistance.

Please support the campaign by asking your MP to sign EDM 214, signing your organisation up to the campaign statement or joining the facebook group and inviting others to join. And pass on the good news – campaigning can lead to important changes and we can all play our part!

WRC lobby MPs about women with no recourse to public funds

Ange Jones, Networks and Policy Officer at the National Equality Partnership, tells us about meeting her MP:

I met with Diane Abbott, my MP for Hackney and Stoke Newington, as a part of a mass lobby organised by Amnesty for its No Recourse to Public Funds campaign (in partnership with other women’s organisations, such as Southall Black Sisters and WRC).

I’d never taken part in a mass lobby before. I have to say, I think it is a very effective model for, in the very least, getting a quick and direct response from MPs on whether they are willing to support a particular issue.

Seeing other activists having tea or sitting on benches with their MPs, added to my drive to get a good result. Diane, as many had told me, was supportive of the issues and she agreed to two key asks of three, one of which was to speak with Harriet Harman about the proposal that government are reshaping on a solution for women with no recourse.

Amnesty supplied us with lots of good information and I got to meet another woman passionate about women’s equality who lives in my area during the process – so all in all a successful visit to Westminster!

Government ignores UN targets on tackling discrimination against women

Last July, the UK Government was assessed by the UN's CEDAW Committee on their track record on gender equality, and was found wanting. As a result, the government is required to report to the Committee this month - twelve months on rather than the standard four year reporting cycle.

However, on the last day of July, we have seen no signs of such a report. Meanwhile, there are still women in this country who are unable to access a place of safety when escaping a violent relationship. These women have no choice but to return to violent partners or become destitute.

In the one year on report, the government is required to include information on how it has ‘incorporated all provisions of the Convention’ into the Single Equality Bill, announced by Harriet Harman in June 2008. However, to date no measures have been taken by the government to incorporate the Convention into domestic law.

The CEDAW committee also expressed concern over funding to the women’s voluntary sector in the UK and have requested that the government report on this.

So... where is the report? Read more here.

WRC supports day of action for women with no recourse to public funds

Today WRC staff joined a 200-strong protest against the 'no recourse to public funds' rule, which leaves women trapped between violence and destitution.

Here's a brief report from Kate, WRC's Membership Officer:

By 11am people had started to gather outside Portcullis House in the spitting rain. Stewards drank steaming cups of tea, and handed out white masks to the new arrivals, who started to form a un-orderly line along the pavement.

People had come from all over the capital and the country, with the 52-seater coach from Roshni in Sheffield pulling up just before midday to great applause after long rain induced delays on the motorway. Over 200 people stood holding the banners: “Violence or Destitution, which would you choose? Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds", their rows of hidden faces eerie behind the white masks.

After an hour, people started to make their way in to the public meeting. Security on the door to Portcullis House was tight as expected, but the heavies soon mellowed, even allowing Heather, one of the Amnesty organisers, to hand them her seeping bag of rubbish!

The public meeting was buzzing, with MPs from each of the political parties, representatives of Islington No Recourse to Public Funds, Kalayaan, Amnesty, The Poppy Project, Southall Black Sisters and two women from the Metropolitan Police, who agreed completely with Southall Black Sisters that violence against women is not an immigration issue: "you don’t want to have to ask a woman at a point of crisis: “What’s your immigration status?”’ . The meeting closed with all united in the determination to continue the lobbying and campaigning and build on the day’s energy. The sun even came out to celebrate.

A great day, despite the rain. Big thanks to everyone who came!
A full report of the day and speakers will be on the WRC website soon.