According to our report “The Right to be Believed”, more than 60% of migrant women have received threats of deportation by abusers if reporting the violence to the police.

In consequence, fear of detention or deportation prevents migrant women from coming forward while perpetrators are enabled to exert abuse with impunity.

This situation is worsened the hostile environment, and the punitive UK immigration system in which abused women with insecure immigration status are seen and treated as possible immigration offenders rather than as victims/survivors of violence.

In 2017, responding to the need for policy and legislative change to ensure all women are protected from abuse regardless of their immigration status, LAWRS created the Step Up Migrant Women campaign.

The campaign aims to ensure all victims/survivors, irrespective of their immigration status, can report abuse without the risk of facing negative consequences such as detention, deportation, destitution or separation from their children.

We are currently campaigning to amend the Domestic Abuse Bill as in its current form it fails to guarantee provisions of protection for the most vulnerable group of women, women with insecure immigration status.

Today, in the context of this International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, from the Latin American Women’s Rights Service, we are working on raising awareness of the vulnerabilities to which migrant women are exposed because of their immigration status.

We campaign and advocate for protection for all women subjected to abuse, irrespective of their immigration status.

We invite you to join us in speaking up against the discrimination migrant women are exposed to, and to support our work. Follow our Twitter account and the Step Up Migrant Women website for updates.

Elizabeth Jimenez
The Latin American Women's Rights Service