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Women with No Recourse to Public Funds
In 2006, NAWP joined up with a number of organisations - including Amnesty International UK, the Greater London Domestic Violence Project, Imkaan, Kalayaan, the Poppy Project, Refuge, Southall Black Sisters, Women's Aid and the Women's Resource Centre - to call on the government to abolish the 'no recourse' stipulation for abused women with insecure immigration status. Denying them all recourse to public funds means that the vulnerability of women fleeing domestic violence increases, and only minimal protection is offered to their children.
Evidence from around the country shows that the 'no recourse' stipulation forces women who have unsettled status to endure the most horrific abuses imaginable: abuses such as imprisonment in the home, slavery, starvation and acute mental distress. The result is that these women face a stark choice: either to stay in their abusive relationships and risk their own lives, or leave and risk extreme poverty, destitution and financial and sexual exploitation (SBS, 2008).
NAWP Case Study
JK came to the UK after she was married to her husband in India. Immediately upon her arrival, JK began to experience horrendous verbal and physical abuse from her husband and from other members of the family. She lived in constant fear and pain. However, she was unfamiliar with the laws of her adopted country and had no immediate social networks to provide her with support and/or information. Language was another barrier. JK was essentially alone and dependent on her abusers. Soon, JK became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. Three months after the birth she accompanied her parents-in-law to India, having been told that her father had become ill. Her daughter did not accompany her on the journey. She soon realised that her father had not in fact been ill. She began to live with her parents as a guest in their home, always believing that she would be returning to the UK to be with her daughter. However, her passport had been taken by her mother-in-law and she had no other legal papers. A few weeks passed, and JK grew tired of waiting for her in-laws to come for her. She telephoned the UK and found out that her in-laws had returned without her. One-and-a-half years after leaving the country with her in-laws, JK - with the support of NAWP - was finally able to return to the UK. With the help of NAWP, JK completed an application for child residency; she was eventually granted a six month visa and was re-united with her child. Social Services granted her Section 17 funding, and the Home Office subsequently granted her five years leave to remain on humanitarian grounds. JK is in the middle of her leave to remain; she has no recourse to public funds. Section 17 funding provides JK with a minimal living allowance because she has a child, but she remains vulnerable as a result of her insecure immigration status. Her life is in a state of limbo until her immigration status is resolved.
Along with a network of women's group's who are part of the Campaign to Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds, NAWP is calling for the government to:
- Abolish the 'no-recourse' stipulation for abused women who have insecure status.
- Provide a special fund financed out of the Victim Fund and other sources, to be granted pending more suitable long-term solutions to enable all women to receive living expenses and have access to refuges and local authority accommodation whilst awaiting a final decision on their application to remain in the UK.
- Allow fast-track applicants to remain in the UK (i.e. those that will be processed within 2 months) where there is prima facie evidence of domestic violence.
- Reform the Domestic Violence Rule so that all types of evidence of domestic violence are accepted.
- Extend the domestic violence rule to all abused women with insecure immigration status, and introduce similar protection for trafficked women who have been subjected to sexual and economic abuse and for overseas domestic workers experiencing violence from employers.
- Provide adequate levels of legal aid so that there is access to good-quality legal advice and assistance.
See also:
Imkaan launched the no recourse campaign and tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in February 2008. It was recently tabled by Linda Riordan MP in support of these concerns. Read more..
Southall Black Sisters:
'How
Can I Support Her? Domestic Violence, immigration and women with no recourse
to public funds'
This Resource Pack provides comprehensive information for voluntary and
community organisations supporting women with insecure immigration status
who are experiencing domestic violence.