Happy New Year. SBS is entering 2021 w/a renewed energy to fight for long-awaited protections for migrant women. As the #DABill enters #SecondReading in the House of Lords today, Govt must listen and use the chance to enshrine #ProtectionForAll:
We are grateful to @BishGloucester for leading on our amendments to extend the DV Rule and DDVC to all migrant survivors of abuse subject to NRPF. Without this women will continue to remain trapped in abuse and men will continue to abuse with impunity.
You can read our blog reflecting on the journey of the #DABill so far here. Pls RT and support #ProtectionForAll southallblacksisters.org.uk/news/all-of-us…
@BishGloucester tells the @UKHouseofLords: “Not everyone who needs to escape an abusive relationship can currently access support. This is particularly true for women w/insecure immigration status, bc of course that insecurity is exploited by an abuser.”
@BishGloucester: Migrant women who face abuse & violence in the UK continue to have no access to the welfare safety net, incl. refuge spaces & support services.
“This could be addressed by extending the eligibility to the existing Domestic Violence Rule & the Destitution Domestic Violence Concession (DDVC) to all migrant women experiencing abuse & by extending the time period for the DDVC from 3 to 6 months”: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/c8…
Baroness Lister: “While I applaud the Govt’s willingness to act on criticisms of the draft prospectus for the Support for Migrant Victims scheme, they should heed the consensus, incl. the commissioner designate @nicolejacobsST, that we don’t need additional info from a pilot”
Baroness Butler-Sloss highlights the difficult circumstances of migrant women brought to the UK who enter into unregistered marriages without legal status in English law:
“Such women are in a powerless state when they flee...Their immigration status is at best uncertain, they may not obtain the protection of the DV Rule & have no recourse to public funds. This is a serious injustice.”
@BaronessGale reminds Govt of its commitment to ratify the #IstanbulConvention & its own progress report which marks its status as ‘under review’ as it relates to Art.4 and Art.59 due to the circumstances of migrant survivors in the UK.
@BaronessGale "The #DABill is a historic opportunity to ensure that Britain’s DA services are available to all survivors. W/o these changes, migrant survivors will continue to suffer violence w/o..support. Govt should recognise this& ensure that all survivors are treated equally”
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth @lordnickbourne : “We need also, as has been mentioned, to provide for many special areas such as BAME communities, for the deaf disabled & blind communities, certainly for migrant women” #DABill
Lord Woolley: “I want to speak about a worrying omission. The #DABill seeks to leave no women behind & that is laudable but unless Gov listens & engages w/groups such as SBS it will leave some women behind. Worst it will leave behind some of most vulnerable women in the country”
“The women I am talking abt are migrant women, who…are least likely to call for help for variety of reasons inc. their lack of recourse to public funds. In effect these vulnerable women remain trapped in DA&are unable to avail themselves of any protection contained in this Bill”
Lord Woolley: Can I implore the Minister @SusanBaroness to engage in a meaningful discussion w/SBS & other groups that are working on this issue, as a matter of urgency? I hope the Govt will engage w/us on this issue to ensure that all women are protected…it’s not too late.”
Baroness Crawley: “The outstanding issues for this Bill incl. the urgent protection of victims who have no access to public funds under our immigration law.” #DABill
Thank you to @arminkahelic for paying tribute to the courage and strength of survivors and to organisations such as ours that support them.
@arminkahelic: “I…speak as someone who has had the sad honour of meeting migrant women victims of DV that face additional barriers to safety b/c abusers commonly use their fears of immigration enforcement & separation from their children to control them.”
@arminkahelic quotes the words of one victim: “Without money, a job, a place to live, or anyone, and on top of that with immigration problems, I had nowhere to go, I had to stay with him and do what he wanted.”
@arminkahelic endorses 3 measures for migrant women 1) extending existing safety net provisions to all victims of DV 2) guaranteeing safe reporting mechanisms 3) ensuring all survivors receive equally effective protection & support regardless of their background or status. #SUMW
Baroness Meacher calls on Govt to ensure the #DABill protects migrant victims of DA w/NRPF. Many are not able to access life-saving accommodation&support services. Also notes the wording of the #IstanbulConvention re non-discrimination on any grounds inc. migrant & refugee status
Lord Russell of Liverpool: “What a painful dilemma is presented by unwittingly allowing an abuser to use victims insecure status as means of coercion&control. We don’t know how many victims are suffering…many victims are unwilling to approach authorities or even refuges”
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: “We need coordinated action at the highest level of Govt to prevent the escalation of abuse and meet support needs, particularly for some of the most marginalised, including migrant women who have no recourse to public funds.”
Lord Griffiths: “There is a glaring omission in this Bill that robs it of the universal provision promised at the time of the election…”
“There’s no mention of how to provide services for migrant individuals, as recommended by the Joint Committee, so much of whose work has been integrated into this Bill.”
“Lord Woolley of Woodford, Baroness Meacher, Baroness Ritchie..& others have spoken passionately about this. We are far from dealing adequately w/the needs of migrant women who have NRPF. As @nicolejacobsST puts it: ‘unless they are included, their options are brutal’.”
Lord Griffiths asks @SusanBaroness whether it’s possible to include a way of meeting the needs of migrant women in the provisions of the #DABill, saying: “This is after all, one of the great needs of our time.”
Lord Griffiths notes the HO review into the needs of migrant women, where Govt expressed concern re an alleged ‘lack of evidence’ to demonstrate how long women might need support, saying: “Many of us find that difficult to understand.”
Lord Griffiths asks: “How long will it take for the pilot scheme…to gather this evidence before presenting its findings? What evidence does Govt expect to gather in the timescale allowed, and what will Govt do with it?”
Lord Griffiths says the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme can “only be a temporary fix” & asks: “Will this exercise provide a long-term policy strategy to fulfil the conditions, both the letter and the spirit, of Art 59 and 4(3) of the #IstanbulConvention?”
Lord Griffiths states that as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe & its Migration Committee: “I feel some shame that the UK stands alongside countries like Bulgaria, Hungary & Ukraine for not having yet ratified the IC”
Lord Griffiths: “As long as we fail to address the needs of migrant women, we can only report to the Council of Europe that the matter is ‘under review’, prolonging our failure to ratify the IC.
Lord Griffiths: “I look forward to the day when we can stand tall in the company of those who have already reached that point.”
‘Can @SusanBaroness listen hard to these concerns and assure us that she senses the urgency of this matter and give us an assurance that it’s not too late to include provision in the Bill before us now?’
@bishopSarahM supports calls for further debate on how migrant women can be fully supported & shares concerns that the proposed pilot scheme, the existing DV Rule & DDVC do not provide sufficient support to many.
@bishopSarahM endorses @lawrsuk amendment for safe reporting mechanisms to be established for survivors accessing vital public services so that they can safely report abuse w/o the fear of immigration enforcement.
@bishopSarahM says: “The alternative is ‘a license for continued abuse where migration status is weaponised against the victims of crime. We must do better than this.” #ProtectionForAll #SUMW @lawrsuk
@BaronessGoudie says: “We must walk across the political divide & grasp the opportunity to leave no women behind”, noting that a lack of protection & access to services for migrant women means abusers exploit their immigration status. Calls on @SusanBaroness to look at this again
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