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Henna Asian Women’s Group – Voter ID – the Young and the Old and Those in Between  

By GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team | 24th September 2024
Two photos 1. A person who is outside holding up an information leaflet underneath a sign for King's Cross Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre. 2. Two people standing underneath a blue and white striped tent at a community event with a Henna Asian Women's Group banner in the background.

Henna Asian Women’s Group (HAWG) provided awareness-raising information to, and organised events for, the South Asian community in Camden and the surrounding areas. It found that in-person events were effective, as many of its beneficiaries did not speak English as a first language, and so used native-speakers as translators to disseminate the awareness-raising information. HAWG also delivered awareness-raising sessions to many other minority ethnic beneficiary groups, such as Chinese, Somali and Eritrean communities, as well as Muslim audiences at various London mosques.  

As part of its grant-funded project, HAWG delivered a workshop with the Bangladeshi community at the Kings Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association. Many of the female attendees came from traditional backgrounds and had focused on “raising their families and domestic work”. Whilst many were eligible, and already held accepted forms of photo ID, they were not motivated, nor had they been encouraged, to vote previously.   

The 19 in-person events delivered were attended by 730 people.  

  • 83 percent of participants reported an increased sense of belonging to London 
  • 87 percent of respondents reported an increased understanding of the democratic system as a result of this project/ activity 
  • 91 percent of respondents reported that they are ready to use their democratic rights to vote as a result of taking part in this project/ activity 

One woman stated that since settling into the UK, her social integration was limited within cultural boundaries, and she was never introduced to democratic participation. She was eligible to vote and held accepted photo ID; but felt that – as she had not had access to education when growing up and lacked the ability to speak English – her participation in elections did not matter. Many of her peers were in a similar situation. Henna staff spoke about why it was important for her to vote and participate in democracy. They explained the process of how to vote and the photo ID requirements, as well as wider political literacy. Overall, the workshop inspired the women, as it made them feel involved and improved their sense of belonging.