News
The Rape Crisis Movement in Scotland Stands in Opposition to the Nationality and Borders Bill
The Rape Crisis movement in Scotland stands together in opposition to the dangerous, dehumanising, and discriminatory Nationality and Borders Bill.
If implemented, this law would cause severe harms upon survivors of persecution and human rights abuse, including of sexual violence and trafficked exploitation.
It will mean that tens of thousands of people each year from countries with oppressive regimes, like Syria, Afghanistan or Iran, that kill, torture and subject people to abuse, including women and children, LGBT people and disabled people- will now be blocked from the UK asylum system and punished for seeking safety.
The regimes that refugees flee will not give them safety, never mind the option to apply for visas, which leaves them no choice but to arrive through lorries and boats. The Bill criminalises unofficial routes, and further seeks to categorise people seeking sanctuary as “Group 2” refugees, a dehumanising label.
Tackling barriers to strategic court cases in Scotland
Today sees the publication of a new report,
Overcoming Barriers
to Public
Interest Litigation in Scotland, which explores why
there is a lack of strategic court action in Scotland and suggests recommendations
to address this.
It suggests key
barriers are:
- Poor access to information about court cases;
- Limitations to who can take a case to court;
- Short time-limits for taking cases;
- Inhibitive costs and financial risk;
- A limited culture of using public interest litigation to bring change.
Authors Clan Childlaw, Human Rights Consortium Scotland, Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Shelter Scotland, JustRight Scotland and Rape Crisis Scotland are clear that if we are to see human rights progressed in Scotland, we need more NGOs to be able to pursue strategic cases.
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