Million Women Rise rally in Trafalgar Square, London in 2013. Paul Davey/Demotix. All Rights Reserved.
It is often argued that domestic violence equally affects women from every class, race, ethnicity, religion, and nationality—an appeal to universality that privileges gender as the lens through which to understand such violence. While gender is a key factor in shaping women’s experiences of violence, the forms, meanings, and impact of such violence as well as women’s capacity to resist, contain, or end it are shaped by particular contexts. One such crucial context is the immigration and welfare policy of the state.
The entwined evolution of immigration and welfare policy in the UK
Women who come to the UK to join their husbands or fiancés are subject to a five-year probationary period of residency. If their marriage breaks down during this period, they no longer have the right to remain in the UK and face deportation to their country of origin. In the interim, they are barred from accessing public funds by the No Recourse to Public Funds [NRPF] requirement. The NRPF stipulation is part of an array of measures intended to prevent marriage from becoming a means of settlement and has a gendered impact on women facing domestic violence.
