About a third of the women were asylum seekers at the time of interview. Sixteen had exceptional leave to remain in the UK for between 1 and 5 years, 12 had been granted indefinite leave to remain and a further 6 had British nationality. Two described themselves as illegal and one as a visitor. Most of the women (73%) had been in the UK for more than a year with around a third having arrived more than 3 years ago. Seventeen had been in the UK for less than 12 months and it was these women who made up the majority of current asylum seekers.