None of Us Are Free Until All of Us Are Free: The Case for Including Migrant Victim-Survivors in the Government’s VAWG Strategy
No Recourse to Public Funds remains one of the most significant barriers preventing migrant women from escaping abuse. It is a structural issue that the VAWG Strategy fails to address.
Following the publication of the government’s VAWG Strategy, Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls, Southall Black Sisters (SBS) will be publishing a series of commentaries.
These commentaries will examine key areas including safe reporting, access to support, immigration policy, and the wider structural factors shaping violence affecting Black, minoritised and migrant women.
This commentary series will track whether the Strategy delivers meaningful change for migrant victim-survivors in practice.
This first piece focuses on No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), a fundamental barrier that continues to leave thousands of women without the means to access safety or support.
What is No Recourse to Public Funds?
No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) is a policy that prevents most migrants from accessing public funds, even when they are in urgent need of state support. It affects an estimated 3.2 million people in the UK with insecure immigration status, including those with visa conditions restricting access to benefits and those awaiting the outcome of asylum claims[1]. This includes hundreds of thousands of children, some of whom are British citizens.
NRPF also affects people without valid immigration status, including those whose status has been compromised due to abuse. In many cases, perpetrators exploit immigration systems to control and entrap women, leaving them ineligible for support. It can also affect those whose status has been affected by errors in applications, inability to afford fees, or missed deadlines.
NRPF as a Structural Barrier to Safety
Migrant women experiencing domestic abuse in the UK face heightened vulnerabilities shaped by immigration law and wider structural inequalities. For those subject to NRPF, abuse is intensified and prolonged by what we describe as “dual perpetration”: the hostile environment created by government policy, and the coercive control exercised by perpetrators.
The evidence of the harm is clear. Women with NRPF are three times more likely to experience violence against women and girls (VAWG)[2]. This creates urgent and complex needs for safety and support, placing victim-survivors at serious risk while also increasing pressure on already stretched public services.
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Office estimates that at least 32,000 women with NRPF will present to authorities in need of support[3]. SBS’s frontline experience, alongside extensive research, shows that prolonged immigration insecurity, combined with NRPF, exacerbates abuse, restricts access to vital services, and has long-term consequences for women’s wellbeing and life trajectories.
Existing Framework of Support
For over 35 years, SBS has campaigned for reforms at the intersection of domestic abuse, immigration law and NRPF. This has led to key developments, including the introduction of the Domestic Violence Indefinite Leave to Remain (DVILR) in 2002, allowing certain victim-survivors on spousal/partner visas the right to remain indefinitely in the UK independently of the perpetrator.
This was followed by the Destitution Domestic Violence Concession (DDVC) in 2012, which provides temporary access to public funds and housing while victim-survivors apply to regularise their status under the DVILR. Together this model has enabled tens of thousands of victim-survivors to escape domestic abuse and rebuild their lives.
Internationally, the DVILR and DDVC model is widely regarded as best practice because it provides both immigration status and financial support, enabling women to come forward and seek help without fear. In 2024, the DDVC was expanded and renamed as the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC), extending eligibility to additional groups, including partners of those on student and work visas.
However, significant gaps remain. Women on non-spousal/partner visas and undocumented women are still excluded. Many are forced to choose between remaining in abusive situations or facing destitution and possible deportation.
Many cannot access women’s refuge accommodation because they are unable to meet basic costs. This leaves women and their children at risk of homelessness, exploitation and further harm and can force them back into abusive relationships.
Support for Migrant Victims Scheme
The Support for Migrant Victims (SMV) Scheme is currently the main national programme providing support to victim-survivors with NRPF. Led by SBS, this UK-wide partnership offers limited housing and subsistence support for up to 12 weeks[4], alongside advocacy, legal immigration advice and wrap-around support.
The scheme is delivered with partners including BAWSO, Shakti Women’s Aid, Foyle Women’s Aid, Ashiana Sheffield and Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid. However, it remains limited in scope, supporting approximately 450-500 women per year, while tens of thousands are estimated to be in need.
While the scheme provides an essential lifeline, it does not address the structural barriers created by NRPF. Support remains time-limited, patchy and insufficient, leaving many women without access to safety or protection.
NRPF and the VAWG Strategy
In this context, we were deeply disappointed that the government has once again chosen not to address the harms caused by NRPF.
The government’s VAWG Strategy sets out an ambition to halve VAWG within a decade. However, this ambition cannot be realised while tens of thousands of migrant women remain trapped with perpetrators as a direct result of NRPF.
The continued exclusion of migrant victim-survivors from protection leaves a draconian and life-threatening barrier firmly in place. This will have direct and lasting consequences for women and their children.
Extending the MVDAC-DVILR model to all victim-survivors regardless of immigration status is essential. It would not only save lives but also deliver significant long-term savings to the public purse, estimated at £2 billion over 10 years[5].
Conclusion
While the Strategy includes some positive developments, it continues to exclude some of the most vulnerable victim-survivors on the basis of immigration status.
We cannot support a strategy that leaves migrant women without safety or support.
We will continue to call on the government to extend protection and support to all victim-survivors, regardless of immigration status until all women are able to access safety and support.
Join us by writing to your MP:
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