The Domestic Abuse Bill has been described as a ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity to provide safety and protection to survivors of domestic abuse. However, as it stands, it does not include protection for migrant women, who remain trapped in dangerous and abusive circumstances due to their insecure immigration status and the operation of the No Recourse to Public Funds condition. These women are excluded from accessing protection from the state and effectively denied routes to safety that are available to other victims of abuse. Listen to the powerful testimonies of abused migrant survivors who talk of the struggles they face to survive.
On Monday, 6 July 2020, the Bill will reach a critical stage – the Report Stage – of the Domestic Abuse Bill that will see amendments being tabled before all MPs for a vote. This is a vital opportunity for MPs to vote for the three amendments outlined below which, if passed, can strengthen existing provisions for the protection and support of migrant survivors of abuse.
Please can you write to your MP to request that they vote for the three amendments at the Report Stage:
To find out your local MP, please click here and enter your postcode. We have provided a template email here for your ease.
For further information about the Domestic Abuse Bill and our concerns, please see our briefing papers here and here. You can also read about why the £1.5m pilot project announced by the Government is a wholly unsatisfactory and discriminatory proposal here.
This work is supported by the Step Up Migrant Women coalition.