Domestic Violence among Migrant Women-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Domestic Violence among Migrant Women. Answer: Introduction Issues and Objectives: Immigrants play an important role in Australia as they form an important part of the Australian culture and have significantly contributed to the advancement of the Australian society (George Harris, 2014). However, the migration program of Australia has been focusing on three main streams- family, skilled and special eligibility. Therefore, in such process the humanitarian programs are ignored. Since time immemorial, has proved to be beneficial in offering resettlement to refugees (Hoban Liamputtong, 2013). The objective of this report is to focus on this type of family migration, as there have been insufficient researches on this matter. This submission report focuses on matters regarding the subject matter of serial sponsorship, potential issues of repeated/serial sponsorship and the related rights for safeguarding the sponsored partners, who has been suffering from the ill practice of domestic violence for a long time. Among the three streams, the second largest stream of Australian migration program is the Family stream. A large number of immigrants have been migrating to Australia since the 90s. Most of them were women and immigrated to Australia as applicants for spouse and prospective marriages visas. Also since the 1990s, repeated sponsorship/serial sponsorships were found. However, concerns have been raised regarding the negative effects and issues caused due to the repeated and serial sponsorship (George Harris, 2014). A large number of immigrant women are abused, tortured and are increasingly becoming victims of servitude as well as human trafficking. Although the present policies and legislations have covered a lot of areas regarding this, there are certain limitations of the laws and policies for safeguarding the rights of women, who are sponsored spouses. This submission report addresses these issues and aims to remove such limitations. This submission report will provide some recommend ations and suggestions on amending the present policies and laws regarding sponsored spouses with the aim to resolve the issue of domestic servitude, violence and human trafficking, which they frequently face. Body of Submission: Facts and Issues: Australia is a country, which has the highest immigrant population among all other immigrant seeking countries. The total population of Australia consists of 23.9 percent of overseas born. The 2016 census stated that about half the Australian population i.e. 49% of Australians had either been born in foreign countries (first generation) or one or both of the parents were born abroad (second generation). As stated earlier, out of the three main streams, the family stream is the second largest constituent of the immigration program. Out of the total 2015-2016 migration program, almost one third (30.2% i.e. 57000 family) fall within the family stream, out of which 83.3% were partner sponsored (Hawthorne, 2016). From 2013-2016, 143,219 people had immigrated to Australia by depending upon a partner migration visa. It has been observed that about 110 repeat sponsors and nine out of ten men sponsored women mostly from Asia who were subjected to domestic violence (Henne Troshynski, 2013). Researchers have shown that there has been a history of domestic and family violence among most of the serial sponsors. In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that, intimate partners referred here as spouses do not possess natural right to have permanent residency in Australia (Zannettino McLaren, 2014). The granting of partner visa usually takes two-stage process. However, a provisional visa is provided at the beginning while the permanent visa is granted after two years after completing the process of initial application. In this context, the exception regarding Family Violence can be mentioned. The Family Violence Exception was introduced in 1989 which has been amended for a number of times however this exception did not last long as it failed to protect the rights of sponsored spouses (Hoban Lia mputtong, 2013). The current policies are more focused on the rights of the sponsors and control of immigration flow and they do not focus on the human rights and safety of the sponsored women (Salter, 2016). Repeated sponsorships are still taking place, even after a policy was introduced limitations on the terms a person can be a sponsor. It is evident that the immigrant sponsored women in Australia are not aware of their rights and therefore they has been abused and tortured by the sponsor on various occasions (.Phillips Vandenbroek, 2014).The immigrant women in Australia often faced various issues other than domestic which the existing laws and policies failed to address. These issues have been presented further in the discussion. There is a need to formulate now policies and laws, or amend the existing ones, so that the women are protected against such violence and are made aware of their rights and support services. Case study: The presence and occurrences of such problems can be supported with the help of a recent case Bhalla v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection(2016) FCA 395 (Webb, 2015). In this case, the applicant was an Indian woman, who married an Australian citizen, claimed that she was kept in virtual servitude at her in-laws home and was mistreated and was not allowed to meet her own parents. In 2010, she entered Australia by way of a partner visa and lived with her husband and brother in law. It was claimed by her that her brother in law controlled their lives and he was physically abusive. Moreover, he used to take improper videos and pictures of her and her husband in their bedroom and also told her that he could even rape her. In 2011, however, the brother in law was charged with an apprehended domestic violence order, but after a long hearing, the case was dismissed and the AVO (Apprehended Violence Order) was revoked. Before the hearing, the husband wrote to the Department for wit hdrawing the sponsorship of the applicant. The Department had invited the applicant for responding to the information of the sponsorship being withdrawn. In the reply, the migration agents of the applicant had replied that as the applicant was a sufferer of domestic violence, she was seeking to have her application for a permanent partner visa, assessed under the provisions of the family violence. Even though after providing sufficient evidences and medical reports, the delegate stated that there was no domestic violence on the applicant and further an expert was appointed for determining the same as per the provisions, where the expert also stated that there was no occurrence of domestic violence. As per the regulations the delegate was bound to take the opinion of the expert and hence, the application was refused at the departmental level. The application was further rejected by the Tribunal and the federal courts as well. This case also shows that the laws and rules have limitati ons, due 5to which justice is not done to the immigrant women, facing domestic violence. However, in recent era the number of literature and data is limited that has been featuring the problem of serial sponsorship of spouses provided by Australian companions (Thurston et al., 2013). In this context, it can be observed that from the very beginning, there was a history of serial sponsors in Australia regarding domestic violence which is in fact very disturbing. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that the issues were in specific addressed to the policy of immigration and domestic violence in Australia. In this regard, the issues had been addressed to the lack of control on the part of male executioners who since time immemorial had been sponsoring immigrant women in order to abuse those (Zannettino McLaren, 2014). The immigration laws of Australia from the very beginning focused on the limitations of immigration policies which acted as barriers for the immigrant women abused by their sponsors (Peterson, 2013). In this regard, the vulnerability of the abused women was also explored who were dependent on their sponsors due inadequate knowledge about their rights and benefits and the inability to provide themselves with adequate subsistence. In order to address the issue related to the concept of serial spouse sponsorship, a case study can be presented that is related to Filipino migrant women (Rennison, DeKeseredy Dragiewicz, 2013). In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that, traditionally much attention has been given to the issues arising out of spouse serial sponsorship in Australia however, in recent trends there has been significant changes (Salter, 2016). In this regard, the condition of Filipino migrant women can be presented based on their experiences of domestic violence. Since time immemorial, the factors giving rise to domestic violence among Filipino women were often associated in order to repeat the practice of serial sponsorship. In this way the susceptibility of the Filipino migrant women increased towards domestic violence (Thurston et al., 2013). However, there had been a stereotyped misrepresentation on the part of the Filipino migrant women. In most of the cases, these Filipino migrant wom en has been represented as docile and ultra feminine and proved as devoted wives for the men of western countries which added to their vulnerability. Statistical representation of Spouse Migration Visas to Australia: It can be observed that the number of persons who has been entrusted with a partner migration visa to enter or reside permanently in Australia each year has remained substantial between 2006 and 2015. However, the Family stream outcome for 20152016 was 57,400 places (30.2 per cent of the total migration program outcome). There had been demand for places in the Family stream in 20152016 were 24.1 percent lower than in 20142015. Year 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 Partner 47,752 47,825 47,642 Family 61,112 61,085 57,400 Table 1: Outcome of Partner migration and family stream Source: [Statista. (2018).Studies Reports | Statista]. [online] In this regard, mention can be made about the influence of another potential harm which involves partner migration. However, there has been no research regarding the issues if human trafficking, where women were trafficked for the purpose of domestic violence. However, in recent years extensive research has been conducted on the subject matter of trafficking and domestic violence of immigrant women in Australia (Phillips Vandenbroek, 2014). In spite of all these research, little or no attention has been given to the issues of domestic violence of immigrant women. In this regard, the nature of exploitation that remains hidden in domestic settings has been largely ignored. Refusal on Visa applications: There are certain requirements that govern the regulations in case of sponsoring family members however the focus is not purely based upon serial spouse sponsorship. In this regard, examples can be cited using the scenario of Norway and Denmark, where it can be observed that in order to provide sponsor to a foreign spouse, the individuals are required to possess certain standard of housing (McLaren, 2013). In Canada, various steps have been taken by the government in order to secure the interests of the sponsored women from violated. In Canada, it is required that the sponsor must sign documents in order to undertake the promise of providing the spouse with the basic requirements. In some cases sponsored women are dependent with children. Therefore, in cases of dependency, the sponsor is required to provide with the basic necessities for three years. However, in cases of domestic violence if the sponsors refuse to provide further support to the spouses and the abused spouses are unab le to support themselves, then in such cases they may seek social assistance. In Australia, for the purpose of entering into the country with the help of a partner visa and proposed marriage visa, it is required that such applicants must be sponsored by a citizen of Australia having permanent residence (Webb, 2015). In this regard, it is required that the sponsors must be adult aged eighteen years or above. In case, if the above requirements are not fulfilled, by the applicant, then the application for such visa can be cancelled by the higher authorities. Spouse Sponsorship Policies in Australia: In Australia, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection has introduced the Assurance of Support in order to protect the interests of sponsored women (Van den Broek, Harvey Groutsis, 2016). However, in recent times, the requirements for partner visas in the Assurance of Support were removed and the sponsors in fact had to provide signature to an undertaking regarding sponsorship. In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that based on the signed undertaking the sponsor becomes responsible to the government of Australia for all financial accountability that may be acquired by the sponsored partner while staying in Australia. In this regard, the sponsor is required to provide sufficient accommodation and financial relief to the sponsored partner according to her needs. In Australia, such assistance has proved to be beneficial in covering two years after the temporary permanent visa has been granted. Apart from providing financial and childcare assistance, the sponsors are at the responsibility of providing their sponsored partners with the information regarding various employment opportunities prevailing in Australia (Thurston et al., 2013). It can be observed that the procedure of signed undertaking proved to be beneficial in safeguarding the rights of the immigrant sponsored women however; it did not remain for long as it was replaced by the government by implementing further policies. The Government of Australia has provided some limitations to the process of spouse sponsorship. These limitations affected individuals who had been sponsoring partners in order to create permanent residence in Australia from the very beginning. In this regard, the Minister has approved that a sponsor can only nominate one person with a period of five years. In cases where the migrating companion dies or the relationship is abandoned with children. Then in such cases various legislative amendments were made. In 2005 various legislative amendments were made in order to prevent a sponsor from sponsoring other person whose relationship has come to an end due to domestic violence on his partner (Wong Mellor, 2014). Gaps identified in the policies of Spouse Sponsorship: The immigration policies in Australia are quite identical to those of western countries however there have been momentous changes in recent years. In this regard, the government of Australia initiated some regulations for the purpose of monitoring the process of family migration which also includes partner migration as well. The intention of these regulations is to protect the interests of the sponsors rather than protecting and safeguarding the interests of the sponsored women (Khalifeh et al., 2015). Various gender perspectives has been applied in the policy analysis that revealed the absence of lack of neutrality in the policies and from the very beginning the nature of such policies were gender biased.. Recommendations: The following four recommendations have been provided which have been the ideas for policy and procedural changes which is required in order to reduce serial sponsorship. These recommendations can prove to be beneficial in ensuring the integrity of the sponsors and protecting them further abuse. Initiatives should be taken by the government of Australia for the purpose of empowering sponsored partners through the process of education and adequate information by ensuring that they have certain rights. In this regard, it is required that all sponsored women should be interviewed separately as recommended by the Coalition against Trafficking in Women Australia 2011. However, the focus should be providing adequate knowledge and information about their basic rights, their right to residency and their protection on being abused by their sponsors. It can be recommended that the government should undertake welfare checks every seven months in order to establish the safety and welfare of those immigrant women living on partner visas. It can also be recommended that the Family Violence Exception should be made more user friendly so that it could be easily accessible by the victims. In this regard, it can be mentioned that the language of drafting should be made less legalistic and the evidentiary requirements should not be restricted. Some changes needs to be made to the recent immigration policies that would be effective in preventing spouse serial sponsorship. It is required that all the sponsors should undergo a character check and must be screened separately. The history of such sponsor regarding violence and behavior should be noted down. As provided in the case of Canada, that if a sponsor has engaged in any domestic or sexual violence previously, and then he shall not be granted sponsorship. As mentioned above, various limitations have been introduced on the number of times a person can be represented as a sponsor. However, it is urgently required to identify the number of serial sponsors through the database present at the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. In this way it can be determined that how the authorities of such departments are working for the betterment of women welfare. Conclusion: In the conclusion it can be stated that the phenomenon concerning spouse sponsorship is examined within the framework of migration and border protection. However, in spite of all these various responses have been developed in a perspective aimed at maintaining the functioning of the programs of border control. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that since time immemorial, the primary focus of the Australian government was regarding the regulation of spouse sponsorship. In this regard, the legislative measures also failed to provide solutions to the sponsored spouses by protecting their rights. 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