Area 5: Protection and Enforcement

We are concerned about increases in domestic violence, the rights of those currently in prison or detention, and increased attacks against East Asians.

RISK OF INCREASED DOMESTIC ABUSE

Concerns have been raised of a likely increase of domestic violence cases during this period of lockdown and social distancing. We have seen that calls to the National Domestic Abuse Helpline increased by 120% overnight and visits to the online helpline have increased by 700% since the COVID-19 outbreak. BAME women have been shown to be less likely to access and receive support due to racism and the barriers it perpetuates. Migrant women with unsettled immigration status are particularly underprotected as existing safeguards already fail to recognise their specific needs. Many of these women are unlikely to seek support from authorities for fear of persecution and deportation. Prior to COVID-19, BAME and migrant women experience higher rates of domestic homicide, and are three times more likely to commit suicide, with  only 37% making a formal report to the police. Organisations have had to turn people away, highlighting the urgent need for more unrestricted funding.

THESE DANGERS ARE COMPOUNDED FOR MIGRANT WOMEN

The past eight weeks have seen VAWG services report tripling in violence and abuse cases, with experts pointing out that figure only reflects the cases which have been reported to the authorities. Migrant BAME victims are less likely to report assaults, due to more than half of the police forces in the UK working under a policy to arrest migrants facing domestic violence and report their locations to the Home Office. Aisha Gill reports that an Asian woman she has been supporting shared her fear that she would die at the hands of her partner who would in turn blame her death on COVID-19, and that this scenario would be enabled by a government and police who have no interest in protecting immigrants.

Latin American Women’s Rights Service, Amnesty International UK and more than 20 BME specialist frontline services, migrant and human rights organisations have written to the Home Secretary calling for emergency support to help migrant victims of domestic abuse amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

In order to ensure a truly inclusive service, money must be invested into services that increase communication and support access for survivors, like translation services, ensuring that people have phone’s with credit on them, access to telephone or video counselling and free transportation services to refugees.

The Home Secretary has stated that anyone who is at risk of, or experiencing, domestic abuse, is still able to leave and seek refuge. We are concerned about the police making a judgement about who is a victim of abuse and who isn’t. Given the increased ‘discretionary’ powers it is a genuine worry that these exceptional measures may not extend to BAME women.

A group of MPs have demanded an urgent cross-government action plan on how to tackle increasing levels of domestic abuse under the lockdown, with a warning that without intervention, “society will be dealing with the devastating consequences for a generation”.

A recent report published, shows that the home affairs select committee has called for increased measures from the government, which includes an emergency package of funding to support services for domestic abuse victims and vulnerable children. Recommendations from the cross-party committee include a call for the government to remove a time limit on prosecuting certain offences, and that the government should sponsor a broadening of ‘safe spaces’ so that victims can access support through supermarkets or retailers.

RESPONSE FROM THE VAWG SECTOR

Over 30 charities, including Southall Black Sisters and Compassion in Politics have joined together to issue a call to the government and hotels to support survivors and their children with accommodation. They are also pushing for this to be offered together with specialist support to ensure women are safe and are unable to be located by perpetrators.

Sisters Uncut released their statement on COVID-19 calling for six demands to be addressed. The statement recognises that staying at home and social distancing does not support those who do not have safe indoor spaces, particularly for domestic violence victims they are in confinement with those who harm them. This problem precedes COVID-19 but is felt more by those who live with intersecting protected characteristics, as women of colour are being turned away from refuges.

The statement also identifies how state sanctioned isolation impacts many marginalised groups. Police enforced isolation has led to increased state surveillance which disproportionately impacts black and brown people. Women and non-binary people continue to be at increased risk of violence in shelters. The impact on sex workers has meant that the industry has evaporated almost overnight. Those with disabilities or chronic illnesses are not able to practice social distancing as they require support from carers. 

The Violence Against Women & Girls sector called for at least £65 million of the £750 million package announced by the Chancellor to be ringfenced for specialist VAWG service providers. They also urged funding to be ring-fenced for specialist VAWG services led by and for BAME women, deaf and disabled women, and LGBT survivors. These services are essential for fulfilling duties under the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty, as well as meeting the specific support needs of survivors who have been marginalised and excluded from existing funding systems. Their inclusion, through a specific ring-fence, is essential for an equitable funding system which does not further entrench inequality and social injustice, which has been exacerbated in this pandemic.

Imkaan released a position paper on the dual pandemic of gendered violence and Covid-19 and its impact on black and minoritised women and girls, as well as the challenges faced by the organisations supporting them due to long term underinvestment in black and minoritised women’s services.

RISE IN XENOPHOBIA AND RACIST ATTACKS

The rise in racist incidents and attacks towards people of Chinese and East Asian descent have been closely associated with the Coronavirus outbreak. Many around the world now live in fear of abuse and xenophobia, this includes children. The rhetoric surrounding the outbreak and its origins also fuels the idea that China, and the Chinese, are responsible for the virus. There is also a risk that responses to hate crime incidents may be de-prioritised during the crisis. 

Police estimates suggest a threefold increase in hate crimes against Chinese people in the UK in the first three months of 2020 compared with the same period last year. These incidents include individuals being spat on and assaulted. Ministers have also told MPs that hate incidents against the “IC4 and IC5 community” have risen 21%, with IC4 referring to south Asia and IC5 to East Asia ethnicities.

Recent polling by the HOPE not hate Charitable Trust showed 54% of people in the UK blame China for the virus while politicians including Nigel Farage and Donald Trump have stoked up nationalism in the wake of the crisis, directing people’s legitimate fears over the pandemic towards Chinese people by blaming China, often labelling it the “Chinese Virus”.

Research carried out by academics from the Open University, University of Surrey and Trinity College Dublin shows an increase in reports of discrimination against Chinese students, with 100% of the 22 students interviewed experiencing xenophobic comments, increasing levels of anxiety and researchers warning of longer terms effects on global mobility.  Drag artists Sum Ting Wong and Yuhua Hamasaki have also spoken out about the outbreak of Coronavirus sparking a surge of anti-Chinese sentiment, with them facing a double onslaught of homophobia and racism.

Xenophobia related to Coronavirus is also disproportionately impacting on Chinese and East Asian businesses with many of them being forced to close prior to Government guidance. Many of these are family-run and independent establishments who already struggle to keep their businesses afloat.

More than 60 senior members of the East Asian community have written to the Home Secretary calling on an independent inquiry into rising levels of hate crimes against the community.

There have also been cases where racist attacks have resulted in deaths, as can be seen in the stories of Belly Mujinga and Trevor Belle who both died of Covid-19 weeks after being spat at by their attackers. Belly Mujinga was a ticket office worker at Victoria station, on 22nd March a man claiming to have Covid-19 coughed and spat at her and  colleague. Trevor Belle was a taxi driver, on 22nd March he was spat at by a passenger after challenging them for attempting to dodge the £9 fare.

RACISM FROM ORGANISED WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUPS

Racist groups are using technology to further coordinate racist attacks. As we shift to a more digitised way of gathering, racist groups have taken advantage of open online gatherings for Jewish groups through ‘Zoombombs’. Pupils in this LA high school, emboldened by the anonymity that comes with having your camera switched off, racially abused a BAME author during a zoom author visit. Racist online trolls are using sites like 4Chan to share links to video conferences with BAME speakers and encouraging people to ‘Zoombomb’ speakers with racist abuse.

An attack on a Jewish congregation is being investigated as a hate crime. A synagogue in Toronto experienced in the racist incident whilst delivering a service on Zoom, when up to six accounts joined the call and began to scream slurs and use their screens to show pornography. The traumatic incident was reported to the police and they are working on tracking down these accounts with Zoom. As a result, Zoom has introduced new security features including a function for hosts to remove participants from a call.

Far-right groups have used the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to stoke Islamophobic sentiment by falsely accusing Muslims of violating social distancing rules by gathering at Mosque and encouraging others to share these  false allegations. High profile accounts targeting Muslim communities during Coronavirus have included Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins.

Doctors have also reported being targeted with abuse, as misinformation spreads among communities. The messages include abuse based on conspiracies that NHS staff receive bonuses for each COVID-19 death certificate, forcing patients to sign Do Not Resuscitate forms, and that COVID-19 is a hoax.

On 13th June, white supremacists rioted in central London in backlash to recent Black Lives Matter protests, causing further fears for the safety of black and brown communities in the UK. 

WE NEED TO DO MORE TO SUPPORT THOSE IN DETENTION AND IN PRISONS

BAME groups are significantly over-represented in the prison system, with over a quarter (27%) of the overall prison population coming from BAME backgrounds, which is twice that in the general population. Many prisoners suffer from poor health and it estimated that without further action, around 800 incarcerated people will die as a result of Coronavirus. 

While we welcome the announcement to temporarily release pregnant prisoners, the measures announced by the government to date, largely overlook the specific needs and challenges faced by those in prison or detention settings. Prisons and detention centres are often overcrowded and unhygienic which means COVID-19 is likely to spread rapidly, risking the lives of prisoners and staff alike. We can easily infer that these increased stressors, which are known to increase what is known as the allostatic load, will thereby lower the immune response of such prisoners.

We support calls made by a coalition of criminal justice charities to temporarily stop short term prison sentences in order to reduce the churn of people vulnerable to COVID-19 coming in and out of prisons and to keep staff and other prisoners safe. We also support advocating for the release of low risk prisoners, and non-imprisonment for the disadvantaged BAME prisoners who are more likely to experience adverse outcomes throughout the criminal justice system; from sentencing to restrictions within the prison estate itself.

On 4 April the Ministry of Justice stated that the Prison Service would free up to 4,000 prisoners who were within two months of their release date as long as they had passed a risk assessment. However, a bungled plan meant that instead of a few hundred prisoners being released on April 16, the scheme was suspended because six inmates were mistakenly freed and had to be recalled. Only thirty-three prisoners were released including pregnant women.

In a paper written by the national lead for health and justice in PHE, data suggested that outbreaks of COVID-19 that were expected in prisons did not come to fruition due to a range of restrictive measures including banning all visits and a reduction in prisoner transfers. They have recommended that these measures stay in place until April next year, although this has been criticised by campaigners who fear this causing rising tensions within jails, as well as long-term damage to the wellbeing of prisoners and their loved ones. MP David Lammy challenged Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, on plans to keep prisoners in their cells for 23 hours a day, saying it was not sustainable and breached human rights. 

The pandemic further threatens the health and lives of those in immigration detention. The UK has one of the largest immigration detention systems in Europe and the unsanitary and inhumane conditions within them have been documented long before the added danger of coronavirus. In March, Detention Action took legal action against the government, challenging the lawfulness and safety of continued immigration detention during the Covid-19 pandemic and calling for release of all detainees. The case was dismissed by the High Court, though it has led to 350 releases and the Home Office committing to review the cases of all detainees, prioritising those with relevant underlying health conditions. The Government has also been forced to halt new detentions. Nonetheless, there are reports that those released have not been housed and are therefore being potentially released onto street homelessness.

Whilst we welcome the steps taken to reduce prison populations as a matter of safety, the numbers released have been relatively small and it is clear that not enough has been done for those incarcerated during this pandemic. Looking ahead, drastic change is needed to address the inherent injustices within the prison and immigration systems more broadly and is part and parcel of building a better world for black and brown people who are overrepresented within these violent systems. We stand in solidarity with the campaigners and organisers who are working towards this end.

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