ABSTRACT
Safety and security was one of the most frequent and significant elements of home highlighted by the young women. Indeed these young women had sought asylum in the hope of finding safety from conflict or persecution. A prioritisation of ‘safety’ within definitions of home was often explained in the context of past and ongoing experiences where safety was significantly absent in their lives or under threat. 1 Threats to safety fell into two broad areas of concern. The first related to events, uncertainties and risk linked to their asylum claims. The second related to the young women’s perceptions of being at risk from crime, ‘anti-social behaviour’ in their local neighbourhoods and exploitative practices. These two sources of danger can also be interlinked, as studies have drawn attention to the experiences of people with precarious immigration statuses, who are often at risk of being a victim of criminal and/or exploitative practices and yet the least able to seek legal protection (Sirriyeh 2008, Dwyer et al. 2011).
