The Home Office's announcement yesterday on changes to routes to settlement risk leaving migrant victim-survivors of gender-based violence locked out of support and vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Safety4Sisters is concerned that the policies contradict the government's ambition to halve VAWG by 2034 by placing migrant women in long-term precarity and penalising circumstances rising from abuse. Policies that leave migrants in prolonged insecurity, creating an underclass excluded from full rights in society, reinforces existing inequalities and tells survivors of gender-based violence that safety and freedom from violence depends on the visa they hold and the income they earn.
Disqualifying criteria
Under the new policy, migrants must have no criminal record, B2 level English language proficiency, no debt to the government and 3 years of national insurance contributions. Our frontline experience shows that migrant victim-survivors of domestic abuse are frequently excluded from learning English due to controlling and coercive behaviour that isolates migrant women from wider society. Perpetrators often prevent any form of integration, meaning victim-survivors of abuse may never be eligible for settlement in the UK because they have experienced abuse.
Similarly, whilst the government recognises that many women face economic abuse, the Home Office fails to consider the impact of requiring 3 years of national insurance contributions on migrant victim-survivors of abuse who are prevented from working. By prioritising higher-earners, the Home Office penalises women who are excluded from high-income roles due to systemic misogyny, the undervaluation of care work and the burden of unpaid caring responsibilities that disproportionately fall on women. Meanwhile, victim-survivors who have been excluded from educational or employment opportunities that would boost earnings due to economic abuse are framed as failing to contribute to the economy.
It is well-known that most women in the criminal justice system have faced gender-based violence and that Black and minoritised migrant women are at greater risk of criminalisation. Recent rises in counter-allegations by perpetrators mean that migrant victim-survivors of abuse are more likely to be criminalised. The disqualifying criteria from settlement mean that many migrant women will never be able to settle in the UK due to a criminal justice system that can be manipulated by perpetrators and systemically targets Black and minoritised people.
Irregular immigration status
Under the new rules, any time spent without valid status could mean waiting 20 years to be eligible for settlement. The majority of women we support at Safety4Sisters face immigration abuse, whereby perpetrators weaponise the hostile immigration system to control and threaten victim-survivors, preventing women from leaving abusive situations. This includes deliberately allowing a woman's status to lapse or withholding documents. These forms of abuse are recognised in the government's Domestic Abuse Statutory Guidance and Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Statutory Guidance. Despite acknowledging that women may fall out of status through no fault of their own, the government continues to construct irregular status as indicating bad character and penalises migrant victim-survivors of abuse by subjecting them to spend a significant portion of their lives in insecurity and uncertainty. Compounded with the trauma migrant women face, the policies will cause extreme anxiety and distress among the women we support.
Refugees and asylum-seekers
We know that nobody chooses to make life-threatening journeys across the Channel except out of desperation and the need to flee persecution and war. Under Earned Settlement policies, vulnerable refugees who have entered the country through irregular routes could spend 30 years waiting for security. Subjecting recognised refugees to spend what could be the majority of their adult life in insecurity is inhumane and unworkable. For refugee women fleeing gender-based violence, long-term recovery from trauma is prevented as their lives are subject to insecurity and increased risk of destitution, exploitation and abuse.
Conclusion
Whilst the existing routes for migrant victim-survivors of domestic abuse on spousal visas remains at 5 years, English language and criminalisation criteria may apply – a cruel and inhumane policy which does not account for the lived experience of domestic abuse. For migrant women on any other form of visa or those with irregular status, there is no clear pathway to settlement. The recent announcements will only plunge women into further insecurity, with increased risk of destitution and homelessness from the costs of repeated immigration applications. As a result, many women feel forced to remain with perpetrators due to fears of immigration action and destitution.
Safety4Sisters calls on the government to reverse the cruel and unnecessary Earned Settlement policies and to implement a clear pathway to settlement for all migrant victim-survivors of gender-based violence. Safety and freedom from violence should never be conditional on someone's visa, language proficiency or income.
For more information, contact safa@safety4sisters.org.