Protest in London by activist group Sisters Uncut. Photo: Sisters Uncut. On December 15th of last year the Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE) network and the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) launched a joint campaign calling for access to services for all women who are survivors of violence in Europe, regardless of migration status. This initiative featured a pledge supporting the core principles that women’s rights are human rights and that we must stand in solidarity against discrimination. It is part of WAVE’s Europe-wide Step Up! campaign (2016-2017) to increase action to tackle violence against women.
This joint initiative is necessary because across Europe, there are survivors of violence who do not have access to support services because of their migration status. Women who are undocumented or have irregular status may risk detention or deportation when approaching services or reporting violence to the police. PICUM advocates for the implementation of a ‘firewall’ between the provision of basic services and immigration control – survivors of violence should be able to report this crime and have access to protection without fear of detention or deportation. Women exposed to violence who are undocumented or have insecure immigration status (i.e no permanent residency or citizenship) are often turned away even from specialist support services such as shelters, for example due to exclusionary funding systems. If shelters are state-funded and women are not eligible for state funding due to their migration status, the shelter may have no way of funding their stay.
There are international conventions and European Union directives that require states to develop measures to protect and support all women survivors of violence on their territory, regardless of migration status: the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the ‘Istanbul Convention’) and the EU Directive establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime (the ‘Victims’ Directive’). The WAVE Step Up! campaign calls on states to fulfil their obligations under these legal frameworks.
