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Immigrant Women in Britain

The first Seminar was a great success. Thank you to all those who took part, especially Rashmi, Ravinder, Clara and Cecilly.

 

Click here for poster(Word Document) 

Date: Wednesday 17th October 2007
Time: 5:30pm - 7:00pm (A wine reception will follow)
Venue: R3.41 (Ramphal Building)

This seminar aims to investigate the experiences of immigrant women Britain, in their home and in the community. It also seeks to explore their role in the British society at large and consider what the expressions of ‘Britishness’ are in their life and work.

Panel

Chair:

Dr. Rashmi Varma, Department of English, University of Warwick

Speakers:
 
Dr. Cecily Jones, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick
‘"Not Just Gender, Not Just Race": Black and Minority Ethnic Women in Britain'

Approximately 2.3 million Black and Minority Ethnic [BME] live in the U.K. today, accounting for around 4% of the total UK population, and 8% of women overall. While there is much diversity among BME women, a commonly shared experience is that of their subjection to discrimination and subordination grounded in gender and race or ethnic difference. The combined effects of racism and gender discrimination, on BME women has had devastating consequences for their full enjoyment of equality and fundamental human rights in both the public and private spheres. This paper will focus particularly on analyzing the experience and status of African-Caribbean women in Britain today.

Clara Connolly, Immigration Lawyer working with refugees in London
‘Domestic violence and political rape faced by Immigrant women in Britain’

This paper will focus on domestic violence suffered by women in immigrant communities. It will examine 2 case studies. The first will look at what happens to women asylum seekers from Africa; the second will look at wives imported from the Indian sub continent who then subsequently face domestic violence. The emphasis in this paper will be on the response of the Home Office - and also the immigration courts - to their applications for assistance.

Ravinder Randhawa, Author, Member of the Royal Literary Fund and Fellow at Queen Mary University, London
"The SSS: Soul, Self, Society."

This paper will look back on the past, and be an assessment of the present, in terms of coming to a definition of self, probably with a discussion of the "pressure-cooking" effect of migration, which manifests as educational, professional and economic change in the space of a generation, coupled with the 'lockdown' effect of a migrant community seeking cultural continuity.