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Join our call for Safe Asylum Now

Women and children who have fled rape and sexual abuse in their home countries deserve safety.

Yet women and girls living in government-provided hotel accommodation have faced further sexual violence, sexual exploitation and threats of a sexual nature from hotel staff and other residents.

Don't think this is okay? Join our campaign with Imkaan and Women for Refugee Women to demand #SafeAsylumNow

Take action - write to your MP

We're calling on the government to make urgent changes to the current asylum system so that women and girls fleeing rape and sexual abuse feel safe.

We don't believe hotels are a safe form of accommodation, but while the government are still using them we're asking them to introduce women and family-only spaces.

#SafeAsylumNow

Write to your MP
This cropped image shows part of a line drawing of a group of women. [This cropped image shows part of a line drawing of a group of women.]

Why is it a problem?

In 2024, we released a joint report with Imkaan, Not Safe Here, on the systemic failures to protect women and children from sexual violence and abuse in asylum accommodation.

Women For Refugee Women, also released their report, 'Coercion and Control: The treatment of women seeking asylum in hotel accommodation.'

These reports found that:

  • Women and children are expected to share communal areas, in close proximity to unrelated adult men.
  • Women had faced further sexual violence, sexual exploitation and threats of a sexual nature while living in hotel accommodation.
  • Hotel accommodation is exacerbating existing trauma and preventing survivors from beginning to process and recover from the trauma they have experienced.
  • Women are forced to live for months, or even years, in cramped hotel rooms. Some are forced to survive with their young children in rooms without a window.
  • Hotel accommodation is destroying the mental health of women seeking safety in the UK.
  • Instead of being supported to heal and thrive, women seeking safety in the UK are left languishing in unsuitable and harmful hotel accommodation.
letters in my pram from guys asking me where your room is. [letters in my pram from guys asking me where your room is.]

Instead of being supported to heal and thrive, women seeking safety in the UK are left languishing in unsuitable and harmful hotel accommodation.

What we want to change

We believe that women seeking safety should be housed in long-term, community-based accommodation that is clean and safe, rather than hotel accommodation.

Until this is possible, we want to see women and family-only spaces in hotel accommodation.

Join our campaign and demand #SafeAsylumNow.

Write to your MP
Photo of Westminster during day time [Photo of Westminster during day time]

Have you been affected by this issue?

Please know that you're not alone.

If you're currently living in England and Wales including in asylum accommodation there are lots of organisations and services that might be able to offer you support.

Here are some links you might find helpful:

A young woman sits in a chair while talking to an older woman who is a counsellor. The older woman is sat on a sofa next to the chair and is using a laptop on a table. [A young woman sits in a chair while talking to an older woman who is a counsellor. The older woman is sat on a sofa next to the chair and is using a laptop on a table.]

Find your nearest Rape Crisis centre

Our member Rape Crisis centres provide free, local support and services for victims and survivors of rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse and all other forms of sexual violence.

Find a centre:

Want to talk?

Contact our 24/7 Support Line for free emotional support.

Find out more

Rape Crisis England & Wales (RCEW) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), charity number: 1155140

Registered 2026/27
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