Accessing Support for Domestic and Family Violence in the Context of Migrant Precarity: Women’s Experiences in Victoria, Australia

Feminist scholarship that brings issues regarding legal status to the forefront contributes to our understanding of the diverse and specific experiences of migration in relation to domestic and family violence. Scholars taking an intersectional approach have examined how migrant women with insecure status confront a series of barriers in their daily lives, impacting their ability to seek help and exacerbating their experiences of violence and abuse in receiving contexts, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. While existing studies have generated important findings, limited research has been conducted with victim-survivors to understand their help-seeking pathways. Drawing on interviews with 18 victim-survivors and 23 professional stakeholders, this paper seeks to contribute to existing scholarship by examining how women with insecure migration status living in Victoria, Australia, accessed support for domestic and family violence in the context of migrant precarity. The paper highlights that, despite their limited entitlements, victim-survivors sought out formal assistance and in doing so, worked with different stakeholders to negotiate a pathway towards support and safety. The study also reveals that women had different outcomes and while some were able to begin to rebuild their lives, others were faced with further legal, social and economic precarity and continued to live with the threat of removal from the country. These findings suggest that understanding women's intersectional location in society is required in the design of effective policy responses that seek to address domestic and family violence at the national level.

Copyright © 2024 Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada.