Ms Salome Mbugua:

I thank the Chairman and members of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality for affording us the opportunity to speak to them this morning. Before proceeding further, I wish to acknowledge the Africa Day Award made to the committee on Saturday, 7 June. This award recognises the very important work this committee undertakes and I congratulate all members for their efforts. As members have heard, I am Salome Mbugua, the chief executive officer of AkiDwA, which is a national migrant women’s network in Ireland. I also am the former vice chair of the National Women’s Council of Ireland. In 2010 I was involved in the development of the national action plan on Resolution 1325 and I currently sit on the advisory and monitoring group of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

My organisation, AkiDwA, has been working with migrant women of all backgrounds and with different immigration status for more than a decade. Over the years, we have supported many women that came to Ireland seeking protection and ended up within the asylum system. My presentation to members today is therefore informed by AkiDwA’s experience of engaging with women from war-torn countries. I also have personal first-hand experience of engaging directly with women living in armed conflict through my voluntary work with Wezesha. Wezesha is an African diaspora in Ireland initiative, of which I am the co-founder, working in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Kenya. Since 2012 I have visited Africa on a number of occasions and the Democratic Republic of Congo in particular and have engaged directly with victims and survivors of violence and conflict.

I wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the Irish Government for the support it has given and continues to give to countries that have less. I thank in particular the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and its Irish Aid programme. The Irish Aid programme has supported many positive initiatives in Africa that have had a positive impact on people’s lives and have improved their educational and economic status. Much of this work has had a particular focus on improvements to the lives of women and children, which is to be commended. The development of Ireland’s national action plan on Resolution 1325 and its implementation clearly confirms the commitment that our country has made in addressing the matters contained within the resolution. We have made good progress and I am sure much more will be achieved, as this is an ongoing process.

Objective 3 of the national action plan seeks protection for women from gender-based violence and other forms of sexual exploitation and abuse. In the action plan, Ireland has committed to increase access to justice for women and vulnerable groups, to promote awareness of and provide reasonable access to support services for migrants, which can assist them with their recovery from domestic, sexual or gender based violence. Again, I commend Departments and agencies of the Government, as well as NGOs, on advancing actions in respect of objective 3. I thank in particular the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive's social inclusion unit for being to the fore in progressing work on female genital mutilation in Ireland.

One Senator, a member of the committee, Senator Ivana Bacik, was key in pushing it forward.

The Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Act 2012 took effect in September of that year. Last month the Irish Family Planning Association, with funding from the HSE, opened a one-stop clinic which will provide survivors of female genital mutilation with a range of specialised services, including counselling and treatments.

Other areas in which I can cite progress include our dealings with COSC which Mr. Heylin mentioned, awareness raising and publication of the book and the Reception and Integration Agency in the development of policy. Through direct engagement with these bodies, policies have been developed on preventing and addressing sexual harassment and gender based violence within direct provision centres, whether by managers, staff or residents. However, these policies have yet to be implemented which gives cause for concern. A further source of concern is the lack of monitoring of the 2012 Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Act and the fact that there has been no official awareness-raising of the Act to inform victims and survivors of its provisions.

While we acknowledge all efforts and support from various Departments and Government agencies, we are concerned that Resolution 1325 is not taken seriously enough within Departments and institutions that have the greatest influence on the lives of women that the resolution seeks to protect. The Department of Justice and Equality and its various offices and agencies such as the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, the Reception and integration Agency, COSC and the Office for the Promotion of Migrants Integration have most influence and authority over the lives of women and children now living in Ireland whom the resolution targets. These bodies have to be to the fore.

Some areas need to be highlighted, the first of which is moving beyond basic needs. While the basic needs of most women within the asylum system in Ireland might have been met and while they may feel more secure, their psychological and social well-being has not been addressed. The majority continue to struggle with trauma. Some, even though they were not raped, would have witnessed their family being killed in front of them. There are definitely gaps and a lack of specialised supports available. Other challenges include language barriers and the lack of support networks.

The second issue is applying transparent gender asylum guidelines. Since 2008 AkiDwA has advocated for the implementation of asylum gender guidelines in order that the gender specific concerns about rape, female genital mutilation and exploitation during conflict would be recognised within the asylum process. Based on statistics available to AkiDwA, at least 3,780 women are in need of such protection. We have advocated for guidelines in line with those used by the UNHCR. The Refugee Applications Office states it has implemented its own guidelines. However, they are not publicly available.

The third issue is the length of time spent in asylum centres which affects the psychological well-being of women, the majority of whom, some from war torn countries, have been living in asylum centres for years, some for up to eight years.

The fourth issue is deportation. On World Refugee Day last year, for example, deportations were carried out to the Democratic Republic of Congo where there was an ongoing conflict. The way deportations are carried out tends to be more traumatic for women and they return more traumatised than when they came to Ireland. There are no transparent, objective and published guidelines on which asylum decisions are made, including application criteria and grounds for refusal. In 2012 the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner invited AkiDwA to make a submission on domestic gender guidelines; however, we are yet to see the final draft and the guidelines being made public.

The fiifth issue is that that there is a need for the provision of training and support for all those working with vulnerable groups such as women who have experienced gender specific harm to ensure culturally competent health responses.

Support is needed for organisatiodns working with migrant women. While AkiDwA is the only migrant-led organisation working on the issue of female genital mutilation or supporting migrant women, particularly from war torn countries, we depend on a half-time member of staff to provide support for survivors and raise awareness country-wide. This is a clear indication of how under-resourced is this important work.

There is a need for interdepartmental co-ordination and commitment from all Departments and units involved. This is crucial if Ireland is to achieve its commitment to Resolution 1325 and hence uphold human rights for all. I call on the committee to include the Department of Education and Skills because it is important to have it on board.