Priority Area 1: Awareness raising and information campaigns on DSGBV and supports available to migrant victims/survivors

Overview

Migrant women’s access to information about their rights and how to exercise them is a precondition of the positive integration of migrant women in society. This is especially urgent for migrant victims or survivors of DSGBV. One migrant organisation listed the additional barriers faced by women in this situation, including “language difficulties, social isolation, racism and/or discrimination, limited access to income or independence, uncertain immigration status and lack of knowledge regarding available supports and remedies” (Nasc 2015, p. 2). Safe Ireland (2013) found that a “lack of English [and] … familiarity with immigration and social welfare systems in Ireland … [was] leveraged by abusers to further marginalise their victims” (p. 4). AkiDwA also has highlighted barriers of “cultural norms and stigma” and a “lack of staff training” of service providers who engage with migrant women (2020, p. 2). Moreover, awareness-raising campaigns should include all forms of DSGBV, including FGM, early and forced marriages, and trafficking (ibid.).

The critical importance of addressing gaps in information and awareness-raising was emphasised by all representatives of advocacy and front line organisations interviewed or consulted as part of the GBV-MIG project. The most pressing needs identified were to:

• Proactively provide information and interpretation in all relevant languages
• Widely disseminate up-to-date information about rights, entitlements and relevant services in relation to DSGBV and immigration and how to access them in accessible modes and formats
• Provide targeted awareness-raising with migrant and minority women about what constitutes DSGBV and supports and services available, promoting integration of and not stigmatizing target groups
• Implement human rights-based, anti-racism and cultural awareness training with service providers
• Undertake public awareness raising and information campaigns on all forms of DSGBV, reflecting the lived experience of migrant women
• Maintain open lines of communication to enable organisations that support migrant women to update and inform public representatives, policymakers and policy implementers regarding evolving issues and needs

Importantly, AkiDwA reports that women migrants who are victims of DSGBV often “hesitate to report domestic violence out of fear that involving the authorities would make them be seen as a trouble maker and that it would negatively affect their application for international protection or citizenship” (2022, p. 8). In response, it calls for a “positive initiative … to educate migrant and refugee women on their rights in targeted information campaigns on: a. recognising the signs of domestic violence; and b. assurances that protection from domestic violence is available to all and will not affect immigration status.”

Table 1. Targeted DSGBV awareness raising: Government obligations and commitments

 Toward an improved and inclusive policy response

Implementation of the Government’s obligations and commitments outlined in Table 1 requires a proactive intersectional approach to awareness raising and information dissemination. The design and implementation of the required targeted campaigns will require input of migrant women and the organisations that support them at each stage of the process. It is imperative that the planned “specialised group” to ensure the application of “intersectionality and inclusivity” principles (Strategy action 4.1.3) will be centrally involved in shaping the content and modes of awareness raising deployed. In addition to availability of information in culturally-aware formats and in multiple relevant languages, this means providing essential DSGBV information in combination with immigration information in order to signpost specific “pathways to safety and supports available” for migrant victims/survivors of DSGBV.

Further as the provisions of the Istanbul Convention must be implemented without discrimination on any ground including migrant or refugee status (Art. 4), migrant women who are victims/survivors of DSGBV must have access to the same forms of protection and supports that are available to citizens and this should be evident in the content of awareness-raising campaigns tailored to migrant communities.

The Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 puts into national law the EU Victims Directive (2012/29/EU). The directive contains a strong statement of commitments to the rights of victims of DSGBV and lists “residence status” as one of the personal characteristics of victims to be taken into account when authorities assess victims’ “specific protection needs.” It encompasses all forms of DSGBV and defines a minimum standard of “support services” to include provision of “shelters or other appropriate interim accommodation for victims in need of a safe place,” as well as “targeted and integrated support” for victims DSGBV, including trauma support and counselling (Art. 9). Notably, Ireland’s Victims of Crime Act omits “residence status” in the list of personal characteristics that should be taken into account (to the victim’s benefit) in the assessment of victims (para. 15). This is a weakness that should be corrected. Nonetheless, the Victim’s Directive is an important statement of the rights of victims of DSGBV that Ireland has accepted, even if it has not yet given these full expression in the implementing legislation.

Priority actions

Action 1.1 – Ensure that all awareness-raising interventions are designed and implemented in coordination with the proposed intersectionality and inclusivity specialised group, migrant women and organisations supporting them.

Action 1.2 – Prioritise National Strategy actions and allocation of resources to increase the availability of appropriately trained interpreters (and translators) and cultural mediators (2.2.4) in order to: underpin achievement of inclusive awareness-raising campaigns (1.1.2/2.1.2); and ensure that victims receive information in a language they understand (Istanbul Convention, Art. 19).

Action 1.3 – Include FGM, early and forced marriages, and trafficking, in public and targeted awareness raising campaigns to reflect diversity and lived experiences of women in Ireland today.

Action 1.4 – Revise the Victims of Crime Act to include “residence status” as one of the personal characteristics to be taken into account in assessment of “specific protection needs,” to ensure that all victims of DSGBV benefit from the protections of the Act, regardless of immigration status, in line with the EU Victims Directive.