A Place of Safety? Women, Crimmigration Control and a Stigmatised Identity

Abstract

Asylum claimants’ experiences of crimmigration controls are shaped by gender, race, and class. This article seeks to show how intersecting identities of women seeking asylum interact with stigma. The article draws from research with 16 asylum seekers in the UK which incorporated narrative interviews, ethnography, and the use of text messaging as a diary method. The article finds that intersecting identities are impacted by crimmigration controls to develop a stigmatised identity. Despite attempts to hide their immigration status, the stigma associated with ‘being’ an asylum seeker was internalised and this became women’s dominant identity, resulting in a series of harms including social isolation.