Barriers related to gender and sexuality W1 participants referred to particular challenges faced by women. This included cultural dynamics where the mother or other female in the family is not allowed to express her thoughts freely to the public service provider, including her needs or that of other family members: “women are often carrying the whole burden for the family” (W1). An example was provided where the father of the family insisted that their child was capable of attending mainstream school, appearing to view special schools with stigma, and it was only when the father left the room that the mother was able to express the significant needs of the child. Hesitancy in disclosing domestic violence in the home was also observed by W1 participants. W1 participants also highlighted issues faced by women in relation to housing, where their privacy needs were not met either in temporary accommodation or in housing shared between multiple generations. W2 participants said that issues that particularly affected women included lack of access to childcare, lack of access to work in consequence of being unable to access childcare, and lack of access to further education. With regard to childcare, the issues were not only to do with the availability of childcare, but related to cultural reasons where women may not be familiar or comfortable with leaving children in childcare services. W2 participants highlighted that men also faced challenges in accessing services. Men often felt like they needed to be strong and provide for their families, and could suffer significant distress when not allowed to work through the asylum process. Men were more often unwilling to seek help or discuss either physical or mental health problems. This could extend to not wanting to claim entitlements and benefits for which they would be eligible on the basis of not wanting to receive “handouts” . Challenges for men in accessing public services were exacerbated by the lack of specific community support services focused on men (compared to those focusing on women).
W1 and W3 participants discussed the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers and refugees in temporary accommodation, where they could be subjected to abuse and were fearful about reporting such behaviour. CSO3 said some people would find it hard to be open about their sexuality meaning they were less likely to access support: “…it’s difficult to open up about their sexuality and how to find a support group, you know, approach people” (CSO3). CSO6 said that LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers and refugees were more likely to feel isolated from their own communities: “… where they come from, it was perhaps a hanging offence or definitely jail. So they are very hesitant to discuss anything with their old community. They’re isolated… It takes them a long time to trust and build trust here in this country as well or to speak about it” (CSO6). This could manifest itself in a reluctance to use public services such as health: “… the thought of going up to a place like a sexual health clinic or going to your GP… telling them that you’re gay et cetera and then starting talking about sex then talking about STIs [Sexually Transmitted Infections]… there are just cultural and social norms which they are crossing over.” (CSO7). CSO7 pointed out that many LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers and refugees not only faced prejudice from the local population in Northern Ireland, but also violence from their own community or other asylum seekers and refugees: “A lot of our hate crime… comes from within the communities here… we’ve had attacks, you know, physical attacks, we’ve had doors kicked in accommodation” (CSO 7). PB2 commented that: “I know a guy from South Africa who was living in a hotel full of males who if they knew that he was gay they would have attacked him. How does he access services for himself but without declaring that he is part of the LGBTQIA+ community?” (PB2).
Final report of the of Ombudspersons and the Protection of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (OPRAS) project | 17
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