Campaigning saves legal aid for domestic violence rule applicants
Tweet You may have seen our recent blog about government proposals to cut legal aid for women making applications under the ‘domestic violence rule’. Under this rule women who come to the UK on a spousal visa but then face domestic violence can leave their marriage and apply for permission to stay in the UK in their own right. Applications under the rule are complex and have to be completed within strict time limits. IKWRO was worried that without legal aid many women would be unable to apply. In March we voiced our concerns as part of a Ministry of Justice consultation on legal...
Read MoreLegal aid reforms and domestic violence: email your MP now
Tweet Under what’s called the ‘domestic violence rule’ women who come to the UK on a spousal visa but then face domestic violence can leave their marriage and apply for permission to stay in the UK in their own right. Applications under the domestic violence rule are complex and IKWRO usually hooks women up with a legal aid solicitor to help them through the process. Sadly we may not be able to do this for much longer. In March we wrote about government proposals which would stop these women from getting legal aid. At that time, many women’s organisations...
Read MoreSnip, snip, snip. That’s right, the coalition’s still cutting away at women’s rights…
Tweet Last week we wrote about cuts to ESOL classes. This week the government announced that it would be getting rid of the Female Genital Mutilation Coordinator. As of tomorrow - 1 April - the only post across all of Whitehall which is dedicated to tackling FGM in the UK will go. Sounds like a bad April Fool’s joke, doesn’t it? But it’s true. An estimated 24,000 girls in the UK are at risk of female genital mutilation and last month, the government launched new guidelines to protect them. Speaking at the launch event Minister Lynne Featherstone said...
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