Thematic Review on the Coverage of Women in Country of Origin Information (COI)

Country of Origin Information (COI) is an integral part of asylum decision-making in the UK and is used at all stages of the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process to assess applications for refugee status or other forms of international protection. It informs decision makers and legal advisers about the political, social, cultural, economic, and human rights situation of a particular country as well as humanitarian situations. COI can enable decision makers to assess if an individual‘s subjective fear is based on objectively adverse circumstances, and therefore whether an asylum claim is well founded. It can also be used to assess the risk for individuals on return to their country of origin. There is, however, some concern that COI reports do not always provide sufficient information on issues affecting women. This is partly because of a lack of information on the situation and experiences of women in many of the countries from which asylum seekers originate. Evidence to support gender-related claims – for example statistical data or information on the incidence of sexual violence - might not be as readily available as for other refugee claims. Perhaps more fundamentally, a lack of information on the situation and experiences of women may reflect a lack of awareness and understanding of the ways in which gender identities, roles and relations – particularly in contexts where gender has become highly politicised - can shape the refugee experience. This paper, commissioned by the Independent Advisory Group on Country Information (IAGCI), examines the ways in which issues affecting women are addressed in COI reports for the top 20 countries from which asylum applications are made. The report includes comments (in blue) made by the Home Office COI Unit in response to the evaluation.