Asylum as Violence: Unaccompanied Young People's Experiences of and Responses to Seeking Protection in the UK

By Helen Stalford

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

This groundbreaking volume exposes the systematic violence embedded within the UK's asylum system as experienced by unaccompanied children and young people.

Drawing on innovative participatory research methodology, the authors reveal how 'hostile environment' policies create devastating 'tipping points' that transform bureaucratic processes into acts of structural violence. Through rigorous legal analysis and compelling empirical evidence, this essential text challenges readers to confront the profound human cost of hostile immigration policy while offering concrete strategies for trauma-informed reform. It is an urgent call for systemic change that will resonate with academics, policy makers and practitioners across law, social work, migration studies and human rights.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1529246555
• ISBN13: 9781529246551
• Release Date: July 2026
• Publisher: Bristol University Press
• Length: 192 Pages