Women urge Labour to include asylum seekers in plan to tackle violence

More than 50 influential women, including actors, comedians and authors have warned in a letter to the government against the risk of creating a "two-tier" system to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG) if tens of thousands of female asylum seekers are left out.

- Diane Taylor

Labour has pledged to halve VAWG in the next decade and is due to publish its strategy in September.

According to research from the charity Women for Refugee Women, which coordinated the letter, more than 85% of female asylum seekers have been raped or tortured. They are a particularly vulnerable group who have often suffered violence in the home countries they have fled and during their journeys seeking safety.

Signatories of the letter include Cherie Blair KC, Elif Shafak, Ali Smith, Juliet Stevenson, Laura Whitmore, Zoë Wanamaker, Gina Martin, Rosie Jones and the former Green party leader Caroline Lucas.

Their message to the government is that violence does not stop at the border. But they warn that serious gaps in the UK's asylum process leave many retraumatised by a system that exposes them to further harm.