NGOs call for reform of immigration rules to protect migrant women from domestic violence
Nasc is one of nine Irish NGOs that have united as part of The Coalition on Domestic Violence to host a number of events to brief politicians and civil servants about the effects of domestic violence on migrant women in Ireland. The events, which took place in Dublin on the 5th and 6th of March, provided us with valuable opportunities to meet with the key decision-makers in person.
The Coalition has asked the Department of Justice to publish some basic information on its website, so that women and their advocates will know that it operates a humane and sensible policy when the cases of migrant women trapped in domestic violence are notified to it. We know that prolonged domestic abuse is associated with high rates of suicide, and we believe that this simple measure could save lives. In the longer term, the Coalition believes that Ireland should introduce a legal provision to allow non-Irish women to safely and expeditiously remove themselves from situations of domestic abuse.
Currently, if a woman enters Ireland on the basis of her relationship with a spouse or partner, she remains dependent on him for her permission to remain here. In cases where such women are victims of domestic violence, there is no provision to allow them to become independent of their abusive spouse or partner. As a result, many women and their children remain trapped in abusive and violent homes in Ireland.
In practice, it has been our experience that the Department of Justice takes a very reasonable approach to applications it receives from migrant women who find themselves in this situation. Unfortunately however, the Department has not published any information to let women and their advocates know that there is a path to safety for them. Monday’s event was attended by one migrant who said she is currently trapped in a situation of domestic violence because of her immigration status. She had seen the event advertised and wanted to express her support for the initiative. She described how she had sought help from a domestic violence support service and from a solicitor, and how she had been told that there was no path to independent residency for her in Irish law. Her choices, she had been told, were to apply for asylum in Ireland, or to return to her country of origin destitute and alone, or to stay in a situation of domestic violence in Ireland. She was much relieved to hear that the Department of Justice was likely to take a much more reasonable approach to her situation in practice.
The events featured keynote speaker Pragna Patel, the co-founder of Southall Black Sisters, which was the organisation that spearheaded reform of the process in the UK. Until recently, UK law mirrored that in Ireland. The Coalition believes that the Irish government should act quickly to learn from our neighbours and put in place provisions to protect the human rights of migrant women by allowing them to break the cycle of abuse and remove themselves and their children from violent homes.
Sinéad Harrison of Women’s Aid stated: “The daily experience of the organisations represented in the Coalition of assisting women forced by immigration policy to remain living with their abusers provides heartbreaking evidence of the immediate need for change. Unfortunately, all too often, we come across situations where, even when the woman has built up the courage to leave an abusive home, she is forced to return due to an inability to access support services for herself and often, her children.”
Catherine Cosgrave, Solicitor with the Immigrant Council of Ireland said, “While the Minister for Justice and Equality often responds humanely and exercises discretion in granting residence permits to migrant women leaving abusive relationships, this is only done on a case by case basis at the Minister’s absolute discretion. These decisions are made without any clear administrative guidelines. Ireland needs a statutory provision for the granting of an independent residency permit to bring the law in line with what is now the recognised international position.”
The member organisations of the Coalition on Domestic Violence are: Nasc, Longford Women’s Link, Sonas, the Immigrant Council of Ireland, AkiDwA, the Domestic Violence Advocacy Service, Women’s Aid, and Doras Luimní.
You can read about this in the Irish Examiner: Campaign seeks changes to the law to protect migrant women, by Noel Baker, and in another article from the previous day: Immigrant women need greater protection from violence, says activist.
Deputy Anne Ferris spoke at the event, encouraging her colleagues in government not to forget women experiencing domestic violence when drafting new immigration laws.
