The Welsh Refugee Council has been running an appeal to raise funds in order to continue working with vulnerable asylum seeking women. So far we have managed to secure half the funding needed for the project to continue. 

This Welsh Refugee Council project is crucial to the lives of asylum seeking women in Wales who have been the victim of gender based issues. These women often have complex legal cases due to their gender specific issues. Gender specific forms of persecution include; sexual violence, rape, domestic violence, human trafficking, female genital mutilation, honour based violence, forced marriage, torture, and sexual orientation.

This group of women requires sensitive support and time to positively impact their asylum matter, as disclosure is difficult due to culture, shame, and disbelief. These women are entitled to legal aid for the first stage of the asylum process. However, this is limited and time restrained, which can often mean that they have not been given the time to open up and talk about the trauma they have been through. This trauma is at the heart of their claim, and revealing it has a substantial impact on their asylum claim. 

Not having been given the time to disclose this information leads to an unjust outcome. This project offers additional support to the women's legal advsior, taking the time to build trust with the women so they can open up about thier experiences. The project would also appeal refusal of legal aid. 

The project was previously funded by comic relief, but due to the nature of applying for a extension of the grant there will be a gap in service of two months. Shutting down the service for two months will have a dire effect on the lives of the women who are in need of this help.

So far we have been able to raise enough money to cover the first month through the generous donations we have received and for now women will be able to continue getting the support they need. We are trying to raise an additional £2500 to cover the second month.  

Please support our project, and make a real difference to the lives of women who have been the victim of violence, and fled to the UK for safety.