In 2014 Asylum Aid conducted research on credibility in asylum claims, published in Gender and Refugee Law.
The key reason why women are refused asylum is because they are not believed. The assessment of credibility plays a central role in the determination of an asylum applicant’s needs for international protection.
This is the first comprehensive gender analysis of the asylum system in the UK. It seeks to assess all aspects of claiming asylum in the UK from a gender perspective including decision making, the asylum procedure, and reception and detention conditions. As women have constituted one third of all main asylum applicants since 2003, failing to take into account gender issues can have a significant impacts on the consideration of women's asylum claims and the treatment of women asylum seekers.
When women flee human rights abuses and seek protection in another country, they are dependent on an asylum process that may not take account of their experiences as women. This research, conducted by NatCen Social Research and Asylum Aid, seeks to address the evidence gap in terms of understanding the factors underpinning the overturn of women's asylum refusals on appeal. The study involved interviews with women and a range of stakeholders, including support organisations, legal representatives and First-Tier Tribunal judges. In addition, a range of case files were analysed.
