The Policing of Girls in Everyday Life

Deconstructing Masculinity and Femininity

War and Rape

The Representation of the Body in British Rape Trials

The Decriminalisation of Domestic Violence

Will Boys Be Left On The Shelf?

Television Research and Domestic Violence

Combating Violence Against Women

Marital Rape and Marital Violence

Health, Rape and Domestic Violence

Sexuality and Citizenship Education

Young Female Asylum Seekers

Sue Lees and Jo Lovett

Little is known about children and young women seeking asylum in the UK. This is one of the first studies to document the composition and social work response to this vulnerable group. Social Services records in a London borough were examined and 30 young women asylum seekers who had been received into care between 1990 and 1999 were identified. This was part of a larger study concentrating on the experiences of young women in care (see Lees, 2002). The study documents, firstly, the profile and experiences of these young women both before and during their time in care. Many had experienced major traumas, involving the loss of one or both parents, as well as having been beaten or sexually abused in war striven countries. Some had suffered further abuse within their families. The majority came from Central and Northern Africa, although by 1999 Eastern European young women, mainly from Bosnia and Kosova were beginning to be represented in the group. Secondly, the dilemmas that this poses for Social Services departments are outlined and recommendations to improve service delivery are put forward.

Background

Very little attention has been focused on young people’s status as asylum seekers in or out of the care of local authorities. By the late 1990s the numbers of unaccompanied young men and women began to rise steadily in response to the conditions of war and economic dislocation, not only in Africa but also in China and Eastern Europe. A recent Save the Children report analysed 218 cases of ‘separated children’ (i.e. children who had arrived unaccompanied in the UK) and found that their motivation for coming to Britain included fear of torture, the impact of armed conflict in which 300,000 child soldiers are estimated to be involved, sexual exploitation of girls being trafficked for the European sex industry and death, imprisonment or disappearance of parents in the home country (Ayotte, 2000).

In the UK only those whose claims for asylum have been accepted are defined as refugees. The term asylum seeker is used to describe those who have claims pending, even though they may conform to the 1951 UN definition of a refugee[1]. Some may be seeking asylum in this country because of fear of persecution or due to armed conflict or disturbances in their own country. Others may be victims of trafficking for sexual or other types of exploitation, such as rape, or they may have travelled to Europe to escape conditions of serious deprivation  (CRC, Arts 1 & 22; Hague Convention for the Protection of Children, 1996, Art 6; HCR Guidelines, para 3.1; ECRE paras 8 & 11; Resolution on Unaccompanied Minors, Art 1 (1)).

The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989), which came into force in the UK in 1992, states that unaccompanied children ‘shall be accorded the same protection as any other child permanently or temporarily deprived of his or her family environment for any reason’ (Article 22, Part 2). ‘Unaccompanied’ young people are those under 18 years of age who are outside their country or origin and separated from both parents, or their legal/customary primary caregiver. Some young asylum seekers are ‘accompanied’ when they arrive, but the accompanying adult is not able to assume responsibility for them. All such children are entitled to international protection under a broad range of international and regional instruments. In the UK children are covered by the Protection of Children Act 1999. Because our sample consisted of both unaccompanied young women and those who had arrived with families (see ‘Composition of the two groups’ below for discussion), in this paper we will use the more inclusive term ‘young asylum seekers’ when referring to them collectively.

The Position in the UK

The phenomenon of asylum seekers in the UK has changed radically since the early 1980s, when asylum applications, including adults and dependants, numbered around 4,000 per year. The last decade has seen a steady increase, with applications for 1997 reaching over 40,000 (Home Office, 1998), but one that is still statistically insignificant in view of Britain’s population of around 60 million. 

In April 1999 there were 2,500 asylum seekers under the age of 18 in England. This figure had more than doubled to over 5,000 by March 2000 and has since continued to increase  (House of Commons Standing Committee, 2000). Local authorities care for these children under the same provisions they use to care for other children in need, but actually receive less money per head for their care. The Refugee Council and Save the Children are currently contesting this failure to provide equal care. In terms of costs, the sums allocated by the government to deal with this phenomenon increased from 20 to 52 million between 1998–1999 and 1999–2000. The Standing Committee reported that some boroughs face extreme difficulty finding placements - for example Kent County Council, which covers the port where many enter the country, is now responsible for about 1,000 such children.

Previous studies on asylum seekers

One of the few studies to date on young asylum seekers (Munoz 2000) focused on unaccompanied 16- and 17-year-olds and aimed to investigate how three local authorities (an inner London borough, an outer London borough and a borough outside London) were responding to the needs of these teenagers. Munoz pointed to an inadequate level of support due to lack of central government funding as the local authorities only had discretionary powers to help this group. This meant that emergency accommodation was often used where landlords were appointed in effect as unofficial guardians. This practice and the use of overcrowded hostels gave rise to concerns about child protection. The lack of efficient monitoring and support of young unaccompanied asylum seekers made young women, in particular, easy prey and placed them in sexual danger. Moreover these young women find themselves in a complex legal and welfare system where they do not have the networks of support and knowledge of the structures available to the indigenous population.

The current study

The study discussed here was carried out in a London Borough with one of Britain’s largest concentrated populations of asylum seekers and refugees. It is based on the records of  female asylum seekers under the age of 18 who entered the care in the borough between 1990 and 1999. It is a preliminary attempt to address some of the issues these arrivals raise for social work intervention. In particular, the special needs of, and challenges posed, by this group compared to other young women in care were explored. Asylum seekers often have a different route into care and constitute a significantly distinctive group compared to other vulnerable young women; they also require specific resources and services (such as interpreters and specialised counselling).

This project was set up to investigate what factors are associated with the vulnerability of young women in care and custody, and to develop ways to increase their resilience.[2] The group of asylum seekers constituted a sizeable proportion of the 130 young women received into care in the borough (one fifth of the overall total). This was the principal reason for undertaking the separate sub-analysis of this group reported on here. The second reason was that the asylum seekers appeared to represent a group whose characteristics were in the main distinct from the other young women in care. This was notable in terms of their family history, reasons for coming into care, education, health and experiences of local authority care.

Results of our Study

Composition of the two groups

As shown in Table 1, analysis of the case research revealed that 24 out of the 30 young asylum seekers who are the focus of this study came to the UK as unaccompanied minors and either joined relatives here or were almost immediately received into care on arrival. The remaining six had come to the UK with their families and had then been taken into care at various points in the ensuing years. There was limited information present in social worker files regarding their family history and the events leading up to their departure. However, where present, it was clear that a number had left due to political or religious persecution and that many were attempting to escape from war zones.

Table 1: Two groups of young asylum seekers

The young women came from a range of countries, predominantly central and east African, although of the more recent arrivals Eastern Europeans were also highly represented.

Table 2: Ethnic origins of the young asylum seekers

The vast majority had arrived here in the early to mid-1990s, coinciding with arrivals of refugees and asylum seekers occurring at a UK-wide level from specific countries experiencing domestic strife and unrest. Several had travelled to England via other countries, some arriving here without passports or documents. Of the five Eastern Europeans, four claimed to be married to older men who had come with them. All had arrived in the back of lorries and were being accommodated in private accommodation. By December 1999  (after our records analysis had been conducted), four Kosovans, one Rumanian, and five more Chinese young women had also been taken into care in the borough as unaccompanied minors.

The asylum status of these young women was not always known, sometimes due to procedures not being finalised or because of complications involved with their applications such as serious delays because of problems in establishing her correct age. Where information was available (ten cases out of 30) the most common outcome was Exceptional Leave to Remain (ELR) granted for a period of several years, but there were also two cases of Indefinite Leave to Remain and one where citizenship had been granted. A Turkish family had applied for and been granted asylum status before entering the UK. It was only apparent in one other case that an asylum application was being refused on the grounds of insufficient fear of persecution.

The major difference between the two groups lay in the reasons for and mode of entry into local authority care. The unaccompanied group came into care primarily because of their status as asylum seekers, finding themselves homeless or without relatives or points of contact in the UK either immediately or shortly after arrival. The majority were brought here by an escort whom they did not previously know. Half of these were abandoned within a matter of days and often left without documents or resources. Those in the second group, who came with their families, were received into care above all in response to situations of abuse in the home or family breakdown. In this respect, their entry into care and its background can be seen as comparable to that of numerous cases in the main sample of UK young women in care.[3]

For those living with parents or relatives the major area of family discord, as with the non-asylum seekers who made up the remainder of the main sample, was over discipline. Three quarters complained of arguments over discipline with parents which contributed directly to their receipt into care, while half argued that their behaviour had been a primary reason for family conflict. Disputes revolved around such issues as going out, staying out too late, keeping company parents did not approve of, seeing boyfriends and smoking. In many cases where the young women were living with their families, especially among large families, there were additional pressures deriving from the responsibility of carrying out housework and looking after younger siblings. These sometimes impinged upon their schoolwork and, in extreme cases, their capacity to attend school. A third were in conflict with their parents over sexuality and the same proportion had run away. Parents lose their authority if they cannot support the family in the way they have in the past. If the parents and children had been separated, they tended to lose touch with each other. There was some evidence that children often adopted values in the UK which were anathema to their parents.

Characteristics of Young Women Asylum Seekers

Bereavement and Loss

Bereavement was a common experience of these young women and appeared to be the most common factor that prompted their leaving the country of origin. As Lanyado and Horne (1999) point out, mourning is rarely a straightforward process for refugees because they face so many ongoing uncertainties. Losses may be denied for many years, with both parents and children holding on the faint hope that the losses are not permanent. With temporary status, people are not entitled to family reunion, so news about refugee status can mean reunion with their families.

Three had experienced the murder of one or both parents, and another had lost her mother through illness at the age of three. A further three reported that one or both parents or a close family member were missing, possibly dead, while another two had experienced the imprisonment of one or both parents for their political or religious beliefs. One young woman from Ethiopia, aged 16, for example, was referred to the borough by the Refugee Council. After losing her father and grandparents in the war and becoming separated from her mother, she was sent to England for her safety and was staying with a 20-year-old Ethiopian youth whose name and address she had been given in Ethiopia. He was unable to care for her so she was taken into care. In another case, a 12-year-old girl, who thought her parents were dead, had been brought to England in 1995 from Zaire with a woman whom she did not know and been abandoned in front of a mosque.

In only one case was it openly stated that the parents had wanted their daughter to come to England to have a better future, although even this was not the only reason for her departure (earlier information in the file suggested that political pressures had been the primary motive). There was less information about the history of those who had come with their families. Where details were given, the reasons typically included political instability, war, intimidation and sexual threats on the part of the authorities or soldiers. Several had faced a variety of traumatic situations. For example, one young woman had witnessed the attempted rape of her mother in Somalia by soldiers and had herself been gang raped.

Overall these children had often lived through an accumulation of overwhelming experiences. There is clearly a need for therapeutic work to help them to integrate with past and present experiences, memories and feelings. As Lanyado and Horne (1999) suggest, the potential for retraumatisations is high in schools which are rife with bullying, racism and xenophobia, directed especially at children in care and refuges.

The unaccompanied minors team in the borough reported that they referred vulnerable young women for specialist help to a number of voluntary organisations set up to work with asylum seekers. Two such organisations are the Refugee Council, whose panel of advisors have been funded by the Home Office to offer advice and advocacy services to unaccompanied young minors, and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, which provides care and rehabilitation for individuals and their families who have been subject to torture and other forms of organised violence.

Health

Where health problems were present, they were primarily of a psychological nature. Four had documented mental health problems, including three cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). One experienced recurring flashbacks of soldiers harassing her family in Eritrea and nightmares about soldiers coming to get her. Another also suffered from flashbacks of the war in Somalia.

Several young women suffered from behavioural disorders, which placed considerable strain on relations with parents where they were also present in the UK. One young woman revealed that her parents would call her ‘lazy’ and ‘dirty’ when she was enuretic. She had been subjected to physical punishment since she was 5, when the family left Uganda because of the war. She also suffered from nightmares, disturbed sleep and an eating disorder, which involved eating only junk food and refusing to eat anything with which she could identify culturally. Social workers made attempts to engage the young woman’s parents in resolving these problems, but at several points she was accommodated in respite foster care. Another young woman had taken an overdose after recurring visions of her dead relatives.

In spite of the damaging events witnessed and the trauma suffered by many of the young asylum seekers in their native countries, levels of attempted suicide and other mental health problems appeared to be relatively rare.  Attempted suicide was considerably higher among the non-asylum seekers. There was also no evident drug or alcohol use, a coping mechanism more common among the non-asylum seekers. Most had been offered some form of counselling but this was rarely accepted in either group.

Abuse

The two groups of young asylum seekers differed in a number of respects. In the family-accompanied group, 92 per cent were physically abused, compared with only 25 per cent of unaccompanied minors. 50 per cent were initially accommodated under Emergency or Police Protection Orders, compared to only 13 per cent of those in the main sample of non-asylum seekers. The abuse was often carried out by fathers, stepfathers or, in some cases, by both parents, and there was little distinction between the different ethnic groups. Many of the African and all the Turkish cases were affected. This figure was considerably higher than that recorded among the non-asylum seeker group, where physical abuse had occurred in 64 per cent of cases, although those of black African origin presented the highest rate (73 per cent) as opposed to 58 per cent of those who were white.

It is likely that a factor in this recourse to violence stemmed from the stress the families faced. In several of the cases examined, high levels of tension caused by poor living conditions, overcrowding, illness or disabilities in the family, coupled with a lack of resources and support networks, seemed to precipitate arguments and violent outbursts. Furthermore, many asylum seeking families had come from war zones or countries still in the throes of civil unrest. Exposure to such high levels of violence may have led parents to become desensitised to violence and the internalisation of this may have impinged upon normal family dynamics.

Differences between the young asylum-seekers and the main sample (non-asylum cases)

Despite coming from equally traumatic and atypical backgrounds, the asylum seekers did not seem to fall into the same patterns of behaviour as those in the main sample. Among the unaccompanied minors, many settled well in their foster placements and gained good qualifications at school. Comparatively small numbers were involved in offending or became pregnant when teenagers. One young woman, for example, was assessed by her social worker as:

a resilient, resourceful and capable individual who greatly values her independence. In view of the emotional trauma X may have suffered from having to move to a new country with a different culture and language, she appears to have coped very well so far.

One explanation for this high rate of successful placements among the separated children may be that most have not suffered from domestic abuse. Furthermore, as one social worker put it, the experience of escaping had given them new opportunities and provided them with the self-determination necessary to succeed.

Education

Although information about education was sometimes lacking, it appeared that the experience of education was significantly different for the young asylum seekers compared to the main sample. Whereas among the latter poor attendance and qualifications were typical of the majority, the asylum seekers appeared far more committed to the pursuit of both compulsory and further education. Information contained in school reports, showed that those performing well at school outnumbered those who did not by three to one. Many had received exceptional reports and shown hard work and determination. At least seven were enrolled on or had completed courses at Further Education Colleges, such as BTECs and GNVQs and one had completed her first year of pharmaceutical studies at university.

Nevertheless, young women often faced difficulties which were attributable to not speaking the language and adapting to different educational cultures. Schools provided limited language support, but unusually, one young woman was helped by a course of private English lessons paid for by the borough. Another, who experienced severe difficulties at school, was visiting the language lab every lunchtime on her own initiative. Other difficulties at school, such as disruption and bad behaviour were more common in those cases where the young women were living with parents and suffering from abuse 

Offending

Offending was significantly lower among the young asylum seeker group. Only three (12.5 per cent) had been taken to court and none had received a custodial sentence compared to 28 per cent of the non-asylum seekers. Where offences were committed, they were generally of a minor nature - two had been caught shoplifting, while another had attempted to steal a motorbike. Two of these offences had been committed with another young person and had resulted in warnings or cautions. One had been charged with assaulting an ex-resident at the Children’s Home where she was accommodated although the outcome was not recorded. In another case, what was recorded as an arrest for breach of the peace turned out to have been due to the need to restrain her while experiencing a psychotic fit.

Pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy was far less common, with only four cases out of 30 (15 per cent) compared to 34 per cent in the main sample.  However, in line with a trend that emerged among the non-asylum seekers, three out of these four had a history of sexual abuse. These patterns bear out American research which links early sexual abuse with teenage pregnancy where becoming pregnant can be seen as a way of re-gaining control over one’s body (see Dryfoos, 1990; Boyer & Fine, 1992).

Certainly, the three young women in question had had multiple experiences of sexual abuse and two had been identified by their social workers to be at risk sexually. One, of mixed Italian/Somali parentage, had become pregnant under the age of 16 while in care. She had suffered serious physical abuse from her mother, been raped by teenage boys in Somalia and been sexually abused for an extended period of time by a friend of her mother’s. Her boyfriend, the father of the baby, was 30 years old and had started a sexual relationship with her while she was residing at the children’s home. He was allegedly violent, and had also made sexual advances and physical threats to the young woman’s mother. It was also suspected that the young woman was involved with prostitution while in care.

Another had been sexually abused by her father and had also become pregnant as a teenager some time after her entry into care. The father of the baby was alleged to be physically abusive and had been in prison after beating her up on several occasions. A stranger had also sexually assaulted her after coming into care.

Later entries in the records indicated that teenage mothers managed reasonably well in looking after their children, although their traumatic histories might have rendered them vulnerable.

Social Work Intervention

Under the Children Act 1989, local authorities have the responsibility to safeguard the welfare of any child resident in the area, although the powers to define which children are in need and the provision of services are discretionary. Under Section 20 (5) ‘a local authority may provide accommodation for any person who has reached the age of 16 but is under 21 in any community home which takes children who have reached the age of 16 if they consider that to do so would safeguard or promote his welfare’. In practice 16 and 17 year olds tend not to be accommodated in community homes, but instead are sent to hostels, bed sitters or bed and breakfast accommodation. The consequence is that unaccompanied asylum seeking 16 and 17 year olds do not benefit form the same level of social work support as accommodated children (see Williamson, 1999).

In regard to younger children, the Children Act 1989 states that a local authority shall give due consideration to the child’s religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background’. Policy guidelines from the Social Services Inspectorate stated more explicitly that ‘other things being equal and in the majority of cases, placement with a family of similar ethnic origin and religion is most likely to meet a child’s needs’ (Tizard & Phoenix 1993).  The main argument against transcultural placements was that while families would not be able to teach black or mixed parentage children survival skills in a racist society. However research undertaken by Tizard and Phoenix (1993) suggests that it was attendance at a multi-cultural school that was important rather than the nature of the parents or foster-parents that gave black and mixed parentage children such skills.

Social workers attempted to ensure ethnically compatible placements which was not always possible, in view of the small size of certain populations in the borough. This is particularly problematic with children of mixed parentage. In the borough in which the research was undertaken most of these cases are supervised by black or mixed parentage social workers, since there is an unusually high proportion of such social workers who constitute between 40 and 50 per cent of the work force. This proportion is much higher than in 1992 when the records subject to the present analysis dates from.

At least half of the young black African asylum seekers were placed with black African foster carers. Two were placed with African Caribbean and one with white carers. In the remaining cases the foster carer’s ethnicity was not evident. Of the cases involving white young women, one was placed with a white carer, the ethnicity of the second was unknown and the third went to a children’s home. One social worker we spoke to underlined the difficulty in finding appropriate matches for those nationalities with a small community base in the UK. Stressing the differences between one neighbouring African country and another, she implied that exact matches were not easy to achieve.

As mentioned above, a high proportion of foster placements of asylum seekers appeared to be successful, or if problems were experienced initially, they were later resolved. One young woman from Zaire said she was ‘comfortable and happy’ with her foster carer, and added ‘I would like to remain with mummy until I am 18.’ Another described her foster carers as ‘perfect’. ‘They are very nice. They understand me in everything I need.’ Although some experienced problems, a number also appeared to value their social worker’s support. As one said, ‘I think she’s very good, because she’s always trying to do the best she can for me.’ Another had built up a strong relationship with her keyworker, of whom she said, ‘I think the only person who cares about me is my keyworker – and I like her very much.’

Many young women experienced problems of cultural adaptation after arriving in the UK. One context in which such problems arose was where the young women had settled here with their families. There were a number of cases where the maintenance of a native culture at home and the impact of exposure to British cultural norms through school and friendships, caused severe conflict at an inter-generational level within the family. In one instance, a young Ethiopian Muslim woman came into care after suffering extreme physical abuse from her father. Issues of discipline, such as going out with friends, staying out late and smoking, considered by the family to be tantamount to ‘drug-taking’, had caused rifts between her and her parents. Tensions already present within the family due to disabilities, epilepsy and overcrowding appeared to be exacerbated by such arguments. Social worker interviews carried the following summary of her situation:

X accepts that many of their difficulties are caused by the clash between her parents’ values and lifestyle, and that of English culture, which she is exposed to via her school friends. She accepts that she is expected to help at home, particularly because of the number of children and the children with disabilities. […] However, X struggles with the high expectations of her parents and feels angry and resentful that she is not allowed more freedom. She wishes that her parents would allow her regular times to be out with her friends and that they could compromise and relax their rules a little.

Similar sentiments were echoed in the records of a Kurdish Turkish case, where the young woman’s attempts to become integrated in the culture of her peers were perceived by the family as a distancing from theirs:

X is clearly quite westernised; she wants more independence and freedom. The family do not like this; they don’t like the fact that she smokes and wants more independence. They believe that she is not disciplined enough at school and that she mixes with ‘bad people’.

In another case, where the young woman had been in foster care in the UK for several years after leaving Eritrea at the age of 11, and had not seen her parents since then, a visit from her mother highlighted such cultural conflicts. Social worker records revealed concerns that she was becoming westernised to the point of not retaining any links with her native culture. For example, she was no longer able to identify with some of her mother’s cultural expressions and was in fact embarrassed by them. Mention was made of the way her mother kept touching her, including her breasts, the way she ate with her fingers and the fact that she promoted early marriage.

Despite the apparently successful pursuit of the policy of race-compatible foster placements, differences still proved to be a problem. Although many foster placements proved more positive, three of the asylum seekers complained of problems or incompatibility stemming from communication or cultural differences. Two Eritrean young women stated they found it difficult to communicate their needs to the foster carer and felt very isolated and depressed as a result. Other problems were often linked to food and eating habits. For example, one young woman who was Muslim could not use her carer’s utensils and found that her dietary requirements were not being catered for.

Nonetheless, there were some positive examples of trans-racial foster placements. In one case, a young woman had settled with a white foster family after experiencing two previous upheavals. The man her parents had planned would care for her had fallen ill, and then, later the woman whose care she had subsequently been placed in was tragically killed in a car accident. She was then placed with foster parents. For some years she appeared to make significant progress, taking their surname and building a close relationship with her foster father in particular. Her foster father then also died, and soon afterwards she contacted Social Services, as she wanted to move away from her foster mother. The family had moved out of London not long after the placement had been set up and she had suffered problems of racism in view of the absence of an ethnically mixed population in that county. She had always been able to turn to her foster father for support over these issues but as it transpired after his death, she said that her foster mother had never been able to understand her anxieties about racism.

The whole area of race-compatible placements is complicated.  Not only is there the difficulty of matching children with minorities who may not be in a position to foster, but also placing children of mixed parentage appropriately raises particular issues. These young women are likely to comprise an increasing proportion now that dual race marriages are becoming more prevalent. It is important that other factors besides race compatibility are addressed.

Implications for Intervention

Greater resources and specialist services, as previously mentioned, would improve the scope for Social Services intervention. Additionally, records revealed the difficulties professional social workers faced in intervening and managing culturally sensitive questions relating to child upbringing. There was often a conflict between respecting different cultural practices and protecting young women from violence or from practices not considered acceptable by Social Services or acceptable under UK law. In one case the social worker had contacted the Zairian Embassy and been informed that head shaving would be considered an appropriate form of punishment in Zaire, as the child’s behaviour would be viewed as disgraceful. When interviewed, the young woman’s father appeared to have been caught between two cultural norms. On the one hand, he regretted what he had done; it had been a ‘one off’ which would not happen again. On the other hand, he maintained he had not realised his disciplinary methods were unacceptable here.

The high level of violence appeared to be influenced in part by cultural differences. For example, the mother of one of the Turkish young women, who also suffered beatings from her husband, claimed that domestic violence was extremely prevalent in Turkish families.

It was noticeable that many of the families of asylum seekers engaged in high levels of physical chastisement in response to lack of obedience or discipline on the part of their children. In two cases, Zairian young women were taken into care as a result of physical abuse, in both cases involving shaving their heads. Both were put on the Child Protection Register. In the first case, the young woman’s father had discovered that she had spent a week with a 25-year-old man rather than with her cousin as she had led him to believe. He had kidnapped her, taken her to his girlfriend’s house and tied her hands and feet with wire flex, shaving her hair off and threatening her with a hot iron. He clearly considered that his own behaviour – in openly having a girlfriend on the side – did not affect his right to violently control the freedom of his daughter. The young woman was placed in foster care but returned home within a few months.

In the second case, the young woman’s father claimed he had cut her hair off in order to ‘make her unattractive to boys’ and as a means of discipline. He admitted that his behaviour towards his daughter stemmed from the fear that his inability to ‘keep her under control’ would threaten his claim for asylum status. He also blamed teachers for his daughter’s behaviour and felt that they gave her ideas about her individuality, rights and entitlement to freedom.

Another young woman disclosed physical abuse from her father and elder brother. She later disclosed that she had been raped twice by her sister’s boyfriend. She had been threatened with a knife by her elder brother for not dressing appropriately for a Muslim girl (not wearing her head scarf in a way that completely covered her head). She criticised her parents for failing to understand the conflicts she was going through. They were strict Muslims with no room for compromise. She believed that all males in the family were treated with respect and she was punished when she challenged this. She had had panic attacks and felt suicidal which she associated with growing up in an oppressive and intimidating household. Her parents believed that children should obey their parents, and that it was disrespectful not to do so. She had spent time in care and then returned home when her mother was terminally ill.

The same predicament applied to the treatment of female genital mutilation (FGM) and circumcision which since 1980 have been illegal in this country, but which are still accepted traditional practices in many of the countries from which these young asylum seekers originated. This is clearly a highly sensitive issue and the records indicated that social workers were aware of the implications such practices could have on young women’s lives. Concerns were expressed about FGM in two of the cases under study. In the first, the file stated that it had been carried out in Somalia when the woman was 12 years old. No further details were reported. In another case of an Ethiopian asylum seeker, the social worker had brought the question up with the mother of the young woman and explained that it was considered a form of physical abuse in the UK. The mother denied that her daughter had been circumcised stating that the family considered it a barbaric practice and would never do it to their daughter.

Our study indicated that the vulnerability of these young women needs greater recognition from social workers. Sexual abuse was widespread in the family-accompanied group. 58 per cent of those living with their families had been sexually abused, commonly by the father, step-father or a male relative. Three had been considered by Social Services to be at sexual risk. One of these young women had arrived alone from Somalia and had been soliciting in order to survive until she presented herself to Social Services as homeless. Perhaps the most disturbing case of sexual risk involved a young woman accommodated in a residential home, whose file suggested she was engaging in soliciting while in care. She absconded frequently and staff at the home had noticed men waiting for her in cars close by.

Various problems of cultural adaptation were evident in the case histories where a conflict had arisen between the maintenance of a traditional culture and the impact of exposure to British cultural norms. In particular, going to school introduced young women to all kinds of opportunities and led some to challenge the restrictions placed on them by the male members of the household. The records revealed the complexity of intervening to protect them from destructive cultural practices, for example, in the sphere of parental discipline. Several of the young women, as we have seen, were received into care following head shaving and beating as forms of discipline, which in some African countries is regarded as a perfectly acceptable method of social control over young women’s independence.

The policy of the borough Social Services department in regard to such cultural conflicts appeared to be somewhat contradictory, between on the one hand ‘respecting cultural practices’ and, on the other hand, opposing certain forms of culturally inappropriate and abusive forms of discipline or control. The policy of seeking race-compatible placements, for instance, could involve removing young women from a family where such practices were evident, and placing them in another family of similar origin with an equally contentious approach to disciplining young women.

Discussion

There are two issues that need to be born in mind. Firstly, oppressions based on class, race, religion or region have in common their ability to rely upon, and indeed a tendency to strengthen, family and community forms of solidarity and resistance on the part of the oppressed. Sexual oppression, however, is located within these very institutions. There are no pre-existing social institutions that women, as a group, can rely on for social cohesion and collective defence. Indeed, the very raising of feminist issues creates conflict within the family and community. Young women who resist oppressive practices should be supported by social workers and not be treated as ‘beyond control’.

Secondly, it is crucial to understand that culture is not some unchanging entity. Men and women make their own culture but they do it in historical situations and environments not of their own choosing. Culture is constantly being reproduced and adapted to new circumstances. Much contemporary black culture is an adaptation to life in British society constructed out of elements of British culture and elements of the culture of parents’ countries of origin. This process of cultural change produces conflict, often between generations, and this is particularly acute in some ethnic groups. It is important to remember that just as white feminists are involved in an internal conflict with much of British traditional culture, so many young women, in particular from Asian families, are involved in similar conflicts with oppressive aspects of their own cultures. A culturally appropriate placement may not therefore, always be in the best interests of an adolescent young woman seeking to escape from the confines of an oppressive culture 

The problem with cultural pluralism, alongside its static and idealised view of cultural practices, is its moral relativism. While there is no morally superior ‘British culture’ into which different ethnic groups would be obliged to assimilate, it does not follow that the cultural practices of ethnic groups have to be respected to the exclusion of criticism. To do so consistently would be to apply the same standards of the culture of native British and refrain from criticising sexism and racism because they originate, in part, as an adaptation of the oppressive nature of life in capitalist society.

As Paul Gilroy argues ‘when national and ethnic identities are represented and projected as pure, exposure to difference threatens them with dilution and compromises their prized purities with the ever-present possibility of contamination’ (Gilroy 2000: 105). For further discussion of such contradictions see the arguments presented in ‘Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women’ (Okin, 1999).

Social Services staff, whilst valuing diversity, should recognise the constant evolution of cultures and support young women in their struggles against sexist practices. Young women come into care as a response to their vulnerability, where both physical and sexual abuse is a major factor, and where they can be subjected to intolerable forms of discipline and restrictions on their autonomy which are unacceptable in the UK.  Exposure to education can also create a culture conflict.  Social work intervention must inevitably contest certain traditional practices that are illegal in the UK. There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop training and appropriate services to address the problems of culture conflict. This calls for training in gender as well as race awareness. This requires additional resources which at present are sadly lacking.

There are several signs that prejudice against asylum seekers and racist attacks on Muslims is likely to increase. Firstly the new ‘war on terrorism’ led by the United States and resulting in the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act in the UK, sustains an atmosphere in which Muslim communities can be associated both with terrorism and with a lack of integration into ‘British’ values. For example, on May 12, 2002, on BBC1 Breakfast with Frost, Peter Hain, the Europe Minister, for example, attacked ‘isolationist’ Muslim extremists, laying the blame on them for not intergrating more. Similar themes had been echoed following the riots in Northern Towns in Summer 2001 (Cantle 2001). The subsequent election of three BNP candidates in these areas in the context of electoral advances of the far right across the EU links in with a second theme of increasing hostility to immigration throughout Western Europe

The government has reacted by calling for stronger controls on immigration and asylum seekers, much of this focused on young people. When the UK government ratified the UN convention on the rights of the child, it made a reservation saying that asylum seeking children should be exempt from the full protection offered insisting that this reservation was to prevent children claiming a right to enter the UK. Meanwhile measures in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill, currently before parliament, include reduced right of appeal and the deportation of children born in Britain whose parents entered the country illegally. On a similar theme David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, on April 25, 2002 stimulated a storm of protest when he argued that some local schools were being ‘swamped’ by asylum seekers and that they should be educated separately from local children in new Home Office accommodation centres.

REFERENCES

Ayotte, W. (2000) Separated Children Coming to Western Europe, London, Save the Children

Boyer, D. and Fine, M. (1992) ‘Sexual Abuse as a Factor in Adolescent Pregnancy and Child Maltreatment’, Family Planning Perspectives, 24, 1, pp. 4-11.

Cantle, Ted (2001) Community Cohesion: A Report of the Independent Review Team. London: Home Office

Dryfoos, J. (1990) Adolescents at Risk: Prevalence and Prevention, Buckingham, Open University Press.

Gilroy, P. (2000) Between Camps: Nations, Cultures and the Allure of Race, Harmondsworth, Penguin.

House of Commons (2000) Delegated Legislation Committee Debates on Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children, March.

Kelly, L. (1997) Final Report of the Activities of the EG-S-VL including a Plan of Action for Combatting Violence Against Women, Strasbourg, Council of Europe.

Lanyado, M. & Horne, A. (1999) The Handbook of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, London, Routledge.

Lees, S. (2002) Gender, Ethnicity and Vulnerability in Young Women in Local Authority Care (forthcoming).

Lees, S. (2000) ‘Gender, Ethnicity and Vulnerability of Young Women in Care: Implications for Citizenship’, ‘Citizenship and Crime 2000’, Howard League for Penal Reform.

Munoz, N. (2000) Other People’s Children: An exploration of the needs and the provision for 16 and 17 year old unaccompanied asylum seekers, Centre for Social and Evaluation Research, London Guildhall University.

Okin, S. M. (1999) Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?, New Jersey, Princeton University Press.

Stroebel, E. (ed) (2000) Unaccompanied Young People: The Separated Child, Residential Care Group Ltd. Professional Review.

Tizard, B. & Phoenix, A. (1993) Black, White or Mixed Race: Race and Racism in the Lives of Young People of Mixed Parentage, London, Routledge

United Nations (1951) Convention relating to the Status of Refugees Geneva: United Nations Secretariat Centre for Human Rights. http://www.hri.ca/uninfo/treaties/82.shtml

United Nations (1995) Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, A/RES/50/203.

Williamson, L. (1999) ‘Unaccompanied refugee children: legal framework and local application in Britain’ in Bloch & Levy (eds) Refugees, Citizenship and Social Policy in Europe, Basingstoke, Macmillan.  

Notes