The City Law School hosts Society of Legal Scholars funded conference on the challenges facing migrant victim-survivors of domestic abuse.
Published
On Tuesday 16 April 2024, The City Law School hosted a forum to discuss the challenges that migrant victim-survivors of domestic abuse face, bringing together academics, charities and by-and-for organisations, public and local authorities and practitioners.
It assembled a network of experts and third sector organisations, as well as representatives of public bodies, working with migrant women affected by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and immigration law in the UK post-Brexit, to tackle the specific issues they face as a result of the intersection of their gender and immigrant status in this new legal landscape.
The event was organised by Dr Adrienne Yong, Senior Lecturer in Law, The City Law School, and was supported by City’s Violence and Society Centre. It was funded by the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) Research Activities Fund and City, University of London's Research Impact Fund.
The event’s overarching objectives were, firstly, to draw attention to the legal issues faced by migrant women at risk of or experiencing domestic abuse and its policy implications, and further discuss possible ways to overcome them.
Secondly, it sought to establish a community of practice, an association of individuals committed to collective learning, who by collaborating, work towards achieving a common objective. In this case, the goal was to find ways to best support those affected by domestic abuse, who face additional difficulties as migrants with precarious statuses.
This timely event took place exactly three years after the entry into force of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which helped the speakers to identify the practical impact of the regulation and its emerging ramifications.
The event started with welcomes and introduction by the organiser, Dr Yong, and continued with the first part – the panel discussions, open to the public, which sought to clarify the current legal problems facing migrant victim-survivors in England & Wales and how to best address them.
Panel: Migrant victim-survivors, their rights and protection
The first academic-focused panel discussed the emerging current legal and societal issues with regards to the rights of migrant victim-survivors and their protection. Speakers included Dr Olumide Adisa, University of Suffolk, City’s Violence & Society Centre, Professor Sundari Anitha, University of Sheffield and Dr Catherine Briddick, University of Oxford and was chaired by Ivanka Karaivanova.
Panel: Putting it into practice – campaigning for migrant victim-survivors’ rights
The panel discussions continued with the second practice-oriented panel that focused on by-and-for organisations and their work, including campaigning for migrant victim-survivors’ rights. Chaired by Jas Bhatoa, Solicitor and Senior Legal Officer at Rights of Women, the session included presentations by Asmita Sood from Southall Black Sisters and Maria Alvarez from Latin American Women's Rights Service.
Roundtable
The day resumed with a closed roundtable of invited participants as a first step in gathering interest in establishing a longer-term community of practice, to facilitate knowledge exchange between potential members and intended to gauge interest from those involved for the future and on what terms. The discussions revolved around questions concerning current protection for migrant women in England & Wales, examples of current best practice and whether the law helped or hindered migrant women.
The success of this first step was evidenced by all participants’ eagerness to continue the conversation towards eventually establishing a community of practice in this area. Representatives from the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Office were also actively engaged in the session, noting it as a priority of their Office.
Reflecting on the event, organiser Dr Adrienne Yong, said:
A follow up event is planned for 2025 for the continuing work of the community of practice. Please get in touch with Dr Yong adrienne.yong@city.ac.uk if you are interested in joining or hearing more about this research.