Sexual and gender-based violence (including domestic violence, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, genital mutilation, trafficking, discriminatory legislation, repudiation, and deprivation of their children) pushes many women, girls, and LGBTIQA+ people to flee their countries and seek asylum in Europe.
These people are almost systematically exposed to violence and exploitation along the migration route: sexual violence by smugglers or in refugee camps, sexual exploitation or forced labor and confinement in trafficking networks in transit countries, including in European countries, threats, trauma, and danger to their children.
When they arrive in Europe, inadequate asylum procedures and an unworthy reception await them. Asylum procedures fail to identify victims of gender-based violence or trafficking, accommodation facilities are inadequate, and support measures are lacking. And their specific grounds for asylum are often not recognized, despite the principles set out in several EU directives and the provisions of the Istanbul Convention which recognizes gender-based violence against women as a form of persecution giving rise to international protection.
Call to action
We, the people of Europe and the world, call on the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Council, and the national governments of the Schengen area to:
- Guarantee the right to international protection through the effective recognition of any specific asylum grounds for women, girls, and LGBTIQA+ people.
- Establish a European Monitoring Body to ensure the effective implementation of articles 60 and 61 of the Istanbul Convention and articles 10 to 16 of the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
- Ensure access to asylum in European countries for women, girls, and LGBTIQA+ people.
Who are we?
We are a group of activists and associations fighting alongside asylum seekers in Europe. Through our daily struggle, we see the multiple forms of violence experienced by women and LGBTIQA+ people who come to Europe in search of refuge. Following the feminist demonstration Toutes aux Frontieres (All women to the borders), which took place in Nice on 5 June 2021, we join forces: repression occurs at the European level, as does our resistance.
Read and sign the full petition here.
