Georgina Colby and Jane Freedman 2026. Introduction: Violence Against Women: Asylum, Voice, and Testimony. in: Representing Violence Against Women: Asylum, Voice, and Testimony Liverpool Liverpool University Press.
| Chapter title | Introduction: Violence Against Women: Asylum, Voice, and Testimony |
|---|---|
| Authors | Georgina Colby and Jane Freedman |
| Abstract | In November 2024, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) released figures suggesting that 60 million women and girls around the world have been forcibly displaced and face high risk of sexual and gender-based violence. The Introduction sets out the existing conditions for asylum-seeking and refugee women who are survivors of violence. It presents the volume’s central claim, that asylum systems currently in place in most countries of the Global North fail to protect many women who have survived such violence. The editors argue for greater discussion on how survivors can and should be protected and supported, setting out the key terms and issues taken up across the chapters. The Introduction foregrounds the global refugee protection system as a narrowing space for protection of women and girls. It explores the hostile environment and violence against women and girls and the obstacles women encounter in the UK asylum system. Foregrounding the concerns of the volume, the editors bring these issues into dialogue with a consideration of how the arts and humanities might amplify women’s voices and contribute to the centring of the issues women encounter to counter the silence imposed on women survivors of violence in the asylum process. |
| Keywords | VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls); Feminist Criticism; Feminisms; Forced Migration; Asylum Processes; UK Asylum Law, Policy; Human Rights; Literary Criticism; Activisms |
| Book title | Representing Violence Against Women: Asylum, Voice, and Testimony |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publisher | Liverpool University Press |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | 28 Jan 2026 |
| Place of publication | Liverpool |
| Series | Proceedings of the British Academy |
| ISBN | 9781836245650 |
| 9781836249368 | |
| 9781836249450 | |
| Web address (URL) | https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781836245650 |