As we celebrate Pride month, let us not forget those members of our LGBTQI+ community who are still not able to safely celebrate their sexuality or gender identity. From fleeing violence, imprisonment and possible death in their home countries, through the journeys they take to seek refuge, and on to the dangerous situations they encounter when they seek asylum in the UK, the Queer SEREDA Report details the sexual and gender-based violence experienced by queer forced migrants.
This UK study on Forced Migration and Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Queer Communities, to be published on 26 June 2024, was undertaken by queer researchers – Pip McKnight and Dawn River - at the University of Birmingham with support from Rainbow Migration. Over the course of a year, Pip and Dawn conducted interviews with LGBTQI+ people seeking refuge and asylum across the UK. They also interviewed a range of service providers from statutory, voluntary and public health sectors in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The results of this study revealed an alarming catalogue of homophobic and transphobic abuse experienced by LGBTQI+ people in the UK asylum system.
With the threat of abuse from other people housed in asylum accommodation and a lack of protection in Home Office systems, queer migrants seeking refuge felt compelled to hide their identities in order to keep themselves safe. At the same time, they were required to expose their most intimate selves to convince the Home Office of their case for asylum.
SEREDA research team
Those interviewed spoke of their experience of homophobic language being used by interpreters in Home Office interviews and court hearings, making them feel unsafe to discuss their situation, and of assaults in asylum accommodation by other asylum seekers as well as harassment from some staff. In one case, a trans woman reported being propositioned by the hotel security guard and the hotel receptionist who had obtained her number from confidential records.
With the threat of abuse from other people housed in asylum accommodation and a lack of protection in Home Office systems, queer migrants seeking refuge felt compelled to hide their identities in order to keep themselves safe. At the same time, they were required to expose their most intimate selves to convince the Home Office of their case for asylum. Respondents reported taking steps to protect themselves physically – one trans man spoke of sleeping with a knife under his pillow. But it was not always possible to hide or fight back - trans people could find it more difficult to hide their gender identity, which left them considerably more exposed. Previous SEREDA research revealed women and girls, as well as LGBTQI+ asylum seekers, were more vulnerable. This is backed up in our study which found lesbian and bisexual cis-gendered women, along with trans women to be at particular risk of sexual violence.
The high burden of proof for asylum required by the recent Nationality and Borders Act, means that LGBTQI+ asylum seekers must give a convincing account of their sexual or gender diversity, revealing things about themselves that they have learned to hide. What’s more, they are required to perform a Eurocentric version of what the Home Office believes to be LGBTQI+ identity to prove they are not just pretending to be queer to gain asylum. This creates an unusual paradox of needing to be simultaneously visible and invisible to be safe. Whilst trumpeting its record on LGBTQI+ rights, the government has simultaneously created an asylum system which does little to protect LGBTQI+ people seeking refuge in the UK.
Findings from the Queer Sereda study expose a system that is dangerous and dehumanising for LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum in the UK, but the report goes on to outline recommendations on policy, strategy and service provision that could go some way towards creating a safer system of sanctuary for queer people.
Following the online launch of the report, the University of Birmingham and Rainbow Migration will be meeting together with stakeholders and a coalition of specialist organisations and LGBTQI+ people from across the UK with lived experience of the UK asylum system, in an impact workshop to discuss the report’s findings and explore opportunities to influence policy and practice.
Despite the abuse and suffering this report uncovers, it also reveals examples of compassion, solidarity and good practice. Queer forced migrants have spoken about the people who helped them along the way and the organisations that offered support, friendship and a community they could feel a part of. This sense of belonging is profound, and one of the reasons we come together to celebrate Pride. So, we will end as we began – let us celebrate this month of Pride together with those who are seeking refuge in a country which should trumpet its commitment to diversity, inclusion, social justice and LGBTQI+ and refugee rights.
