Asylum is not gender neutral: the refugee crisis in Europe from a feminist perspective
[Brussels, 21 September 2015] Today is International Day of Peace. However, the persistence of war and conflicts globally urges us to redefine sustainable peace as the presence of human security, justice and equality, rather than the absence of war. Europe has to face the consequences of war and conflicts in other parts of the world, and has a duty to act, not only in terms of addressing the situation of refugees and asylum seekers reaching European countries, but also to promote real peace and security for all on this planet.
This year, we commemorate the 15 years of the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR1325) on ‘Women, Peace and Security’, which stresses the importance to include women in peace negotiations, post-conflict reconstruction, disarmament, humanitarian relief and peace building. It also highlights the increasingly pervasive violation of women’s rights in conflicts, namely the different forms of violence women and girls face, including the use of rape as a weapon of war.
In this context, and in light of the ‘refugee crisis’ we are facing now, the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) would like to bring everyone’s attention a reality which tends to be ignored by the media and the decision-makers: women and girls fleeing conflicts and war face various forms of male violence in their journey towards a hosting country, as well as multiple discrimination due to widespread prejudices about women refugees and asylum seekers.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that the number of women and children fleeing countries of violence heading for Europe has increased sharply in recent months. Our members from Eastern Europe have alerted us about the current widespread violence against women and girls in transit zones. Here are some examples we feel important to share, to make sure that the national and European responses to the situation include a strong gender perspective, and promote peace for all human beings, including women and girls.
Sexual violence against women refugees and asylum seekers
Sexual violence against women and girls is not related to exceptional situations only: the EU Fundamental Rights Agency reminds us that 1 in 3 women have experienced sexual or physical violence in Europe, and 5% have been raped. Many women flee their country because of a pervasive situation of male violence against women. Moreover, in situation of escape for refugees, male violence is part of women’s experience.
Women are been raped by officials, by smugglers, by other refugees, by traffickers. Our members in Hungary are aware of cases of rape perpetrated by Balkan police. Women Under Siege director Lauren Wolfe reports: “Every single woman I came to meet in my reporting described or alluded to rape—either of themselves or of others—as they traversed the African continent through Libya to cross the sea to Italy.” Due to the prevalent patriarchal structures, they rarely report those cases of violence to the authorities. They therefore don’t get access to any support and justice. They might also face unwanted pregnancies but without access to health care and choice about abortion.
Prostitution and trafficking of women refugees and asylum seekers
In the journey fleeing war and conflicts, women and girls are rendered vulnerable to trafficking and prostitution. Smugglers might link with traffickers to abuse women and girls and exploit them in brothels or other prostitution sites. Women might have to use prostitution as a means to survive during their journey, get a place to sleep or some food. Prostitution seems also to be widespread in the transit zones, and doctors report cases of sexually transmitted diseases.
Sexual and reproductive health of women refugees and asylum seekers
According to UNICEF, 12% of women arriving in Macedonia are pregnant. “We got many stories of women starting bleeding and losing their child, for instance in Greece”. Because of the lack of drinking water in the journey and the transit zones, mostly kids, pregnant women and breastfeeding women suffer from kidney problems. Women refugees and asylum seekers will have trouble finding toilets and sanitary products in the countries they travel through or the countries they arrive to in Europe. In transit zones, some authorities set up showers, but with no hot water, no separation between women and men, and no support for babies’ hygiene.
Women’s organisations mobilise!
Women’s organizations have a long history of peace activism and of solidarity. The EWL webinar on Women and Armed Conflict today illustrates the mobilisation of women’s groups and activists. People who are transiting Europe now need our help, and every one of our gestures actually makes a difference. But this ‘crisis’ also needs to be handled at political level, with clear, relevant and transformative answers.
The European Women’s Lobby has been working on the issue of asylum for many years, and we want to recall the following demands:
Member States should ensure that asylum procedures at borders comply the UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection (Gender-related persecution within the context of Article 1(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugee, 7 May 2002). In particular, guideline n°35 states that “Persons raising gender-related refugee claims, and survivors of torture and trauma in particular, require a supportive environment where they can be reassured of the confidentiality of their claim. Some claimant, because of the shame they feel over what has happened to them, may be reluctant to identify the true extent of the persecution suffered of feared.”
Asylum officials should inform women of gender aspects of the refugee definition thus clarifying that fear of gender-based violence and discrimination may constitute a valid basis for a refugee claim.
“The refugee crisis in recent months is one of the worst humanitarian disasters of our time. Innocent civilians, primarily from Syria and Afghanistan, suffering terribly – more than 11 million people have left their residence.” Today Women in Black and Autonomous Women Center (EWL members) are demonstrating at the Serbian-Croatian border. You can follow their action here.
Peace activists from Serbia (including our members) were on the Serbian-Hungarian border in the last days. You can see two photos below.
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Online Dictionary
Readable Experience
Content Scaling
Default
Text Magnifier
Readable Font
Dyslexia Friendly
Highlight Titles
Highlight Links
Font Sizing
Default
Line Height
Default
Letter Spacing
Default
Left Aligned
Center Aligned
Right Aligned
Visually Pleasing Experience
Dark Contrast
Light Contrast
Monochrome
High Contrast
High Saturation
Low Saturation
Adjust Text Colors
Adjust Title Colors
Adjust Background Colors
Easy Orientation
Mute Sounds
Hide Images
Virtual Keyboard
Reading Guide
Stop Animations
Reading Mask
Highlight Hover
Highlight Focus
Big Dark Cursor
Big Light Cursor
Cognitive Reading
Navigation Keys
Voice Navigation
Accessibility Statement
womenlobby.org
September 1, 2024
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience,
regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level.
These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible
to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific
disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML,
adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Screen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with
screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive
a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements,
alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website.
In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels;
descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups),
and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag
for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology.
To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on
as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over seven different coloring options.
Animations – person with epilepsy can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.
Browser and assistive technology compatibility
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
3rd Party Cookies
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!