Women on Temporary Visas to possibly get Financial Aid

The Federal Government has committed some 100 million dollars to make sure that domestic violence is dealt with accordingly. A number of support groups are now saying that a portion of this money should be allotted to migrant women who have been victims or are also trying to escape domestic violence

The Victorian Royal Commission has come out with a report looking into Family Violence and it has made a number of recommendations including the entitlement of women who are trying to break free from violent relationships, to crisis payments no matter what their visa status are. A coalition of 135 groups all in all have published an open letter to Mr Malcolm Turnbull, the Prime Minister of Australia, calling for him to make the $100 million fund also accessible to migrant women who are holding temporary visas and escaping domestic violence.

”Safety from domestic violence is a fundamental human right and must not be subject to a person’s visa status,” said Mr Joe Caputo, a member of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia during an interview with SBS. ”So we feel that by these women being left behind, they are often forced to go back to violent domestic relationships or an abusive partner because they do not have any access to services.”

The senior lawyer from the Immigration Advice and Rights Centre (IARC) in Sydney, Ms Xanthe Emery, told SBS that migrant women who are on temporary visas are left defenseless when they are in the face of domestic violence.

Ms Emery also explained that the lack of support coming from family, the language barrier, as well as the lack of knowledge regarding the legal system of Australia makes it even more difficult for women on temporary visas to seek help.

”I have definitely had clients who were experiencing violence and did not know they could call the police, or that was something the police could help them with,” said Ms Emery. ”They are told by their partners that if they report the abuse, their visa will be cancelled.”

Ms Emery continued on to say, ”And that threat is a very genuine fear for them, that they will be deported out of the country very quickly.”

The open letter made by the coalition states that while violence against women is a real problem and at present a national priority, the reforms are leaving out migrant women who desperately need the help and protection of the government. Without access to basic services such as these, the problem will never go away.

Source: MigrationAlliance.com.au