A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details Feminist Theory, Gender Mainstreaming and the European Union: Examining the effects of EU gender mainstreaming and national law on female asylum seekers in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Monica Katherine Beard DPhil Law and Gender Studies University of Sussex December 2016 2 I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature: ..................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 5 Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 6 I. Methodology ............................................................................................................. 10 II. Major research questions ....................................................................................... 15 III. Chapter plan .......................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2: Feminist Theory ................................................................................................. 20 I. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 20 II. Separate Spheres Theory ....................................................................................... 24 III. Radical Feminism .................................................................................................. 31 IV. Intersectional Feminism ........................................................................................ 38 V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 43 Chapter 3: Laws Regulating Asylum by the European Union ............................................. 46 I. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 46 II. Primary legal sources ............................................................................................ 49 III. Secondary legislation and asylum ......................................................................... 54 IV. CJEU Jurisprudence .............................................................................................. 60 V. NGO Criticism of the CEAS ................................................................................. 68 VI. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 74 Chapter 4: The EU, Gender and Asylum ............................................................................. 77 I. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 77 II. Gender Mainstreaming and the European Union competences ............................ 81 III. International Law and the EU ............................................................................... 88 IV. NGO Responses .................................................................................................... 93 V. Intersectional analysis of gender mainstreaming .................................................. 98 VI. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 101 Chapter 5: UK National Law ............................................................................................ 103 I. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 103 II. UK Asylum Law ................................................................................................. 108 A. Initial asylum decisions ..................................................................................................................... 113 B. What constitutes gendered persecution? .................................................................................. 115 C. UK Home Office Gender Guidelines .............................................................................................. 119 D. Detention and Fast Tracked Asylum Claims ............................................................................. 121 4 III. UK obligations under international and EU law ................................................. 127 IV. Intersectional Feminism in UK Policy ................................................................ 134 Chapter 6: Irish National Law ............................................................................................ 140 I. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 140 II. Irish national law ................................................................................................. 145 III. The EU and Irish asylum law .............................................................................. 159 IV. Ireland, women’s rights and international law .................................................... 166 Chapter 7: The EU Going Forward .................................................................................... 174 I. The EU: migration crisis and the future .................................................................. 177 II. The UK and Ireland ............................................................................................. 188 III. Intersectional approaches to supporting women claiming asylum ...................... 193 IV. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 198 Chapter 8: Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 200 I. Essential findings of this research ........................................................................... 201 II. Opportunities for future research ........................................................................ 207 III. The Future of the EU and the CEAS ................................................................... 209 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 213 5 Abstract The European Union (EU) policy of gender mainstreaming has been discussed at length in the context of embedding gender equality into the EU’s internal market. The effectiveness of gender mainstreaming has been less analysed in other areas of EU competence. This PhD draws on feminist theory to explain the EU’s gendered treatment of vulnerable women within the asylum system. Using a range of theories of gender equality, notably separate spheres, radical feminism, and intersectional feminism, the thesis analyses the relevant asylum legislation, judgements and guidelines in international law, EU law and the national legal systems of two EU member states: the United Kingdom and Ireland. These feminist theories provided a perspective which allowed this research to explain how the EU has failed to address significantly and meaningfully the gendered aspects of the asylum system in member states. Despite the EU’s stated attempts to ensure through gender mainstreaming that the member states rely on a theory of gender equality which provides protection to women in the asylum system, this PhD found both that the EU has not sufficiently embodied an intersectional approach to gender and asylum and that member states are still more influenced by their national political culture and treatment of gender equality than that of the EU. This thesis uses that research to make recommendations at both an EU and national level to help the EU and its member states better incorporate gender mainstreaming in order to ensure human rights protection for vulnerable women. As the EU manages increasing refugee applications and increasing nationalist sentiment, this presents an opportunity to embed more thoroughly intersectional gender mainstreaming in both EU asylum policy and the EU’s political culture. 6 Chapter 1: Introduction The idea for this research began with a reading of the 2011 European Union Qualification Directive.1 One of the landmark pieces of legislation of the Common European Asylum System (the CEAS), this Directive legislated the content of the asylum law of European Union member states: directly determining whether an asylum applicant would be eligible for protection as a refugee. When initially reading the Qualification Directive, the references to gender-based persecution were reminiscent both of gendered developments in UK law2 and best practice recommended for asylum seekers by the