Migrant Women Deliberately Left Out of UK Abuse Bill

Domestic abuse campaigners and victims have accused the government of not valuing the lives of migrant women in forthcoming legislation on the issue. The Step Up Migrant Women coalition – a collection of more than 50 BAME specialist frontline services, migrant and human rights organisations including the Latin American Women’s Rights Service, Southall Black Sisters and Amnesty International UK – has accused the government of leaving a “gaping hole” in the groundbreaking legislation, arguing that it will not provide any support for abused migrant women who have no recourse to public funds. “The decision to leave migrant women out of this bill sends the message that their lives are not valued, they are disposable, they are second-class people, they are invisible,” said Pragna Patel, the director of Southall Black Sisters.

Currently, domestic violence victims on spousal visas can access support for three months, but women on any other visa with a “no recourse to public funds” stipulation cannot. “With this bill, the government isn’t just invisibilising abused migrant women, it’s worse than that,” said Patel. “It knows they exist but it is deliberately choosing to ignore their needs.”

Read more: Alexandra Topping, Guardian, https://is.gd/zpybRD