This weekend will see Labour party members gather in Brighton for their party conference. On Saturday the National women’s conference will be discussing the hugely important issue of violence against women.

Leading discussions in the Labour party are the Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper and the MP for Walthamstow Stella Creasy, who together are leading the development of Labour policy on this issue through Everywoman Safe Everywhere.

Stella is also speaking at a fringe meeting hosted by Movement for Change, alongside two refugee women who are part of the London Refugee Women’s Forum. This Forum began as a collaborative project between the Refugee Council and Women for Refugee Women.

Together with Asylum Aid, whose work on issues affecting women in the asylum system led to them establishing the Women’s Charter, we are calling on the Labour party to ensure that Everywoman Safe Everywhere  considers the effect of asylum policies on women who have come to the UK to be safe, but found themselves destitute and unable to return to their country of origin. You can read our joint letter to Yvette Cooper and Stella Creasy here