“I was so scared to go to the police. I was an undocumented migrant – who was I against a British citizen?” Gil told me.
In 2016, Gil came to the UK with her British partner and her two children. Her intention was to apply for long-term immigration status upon arrival [WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?] but her partner soon made this impossible. [CAN YOU GIVE US A BIT MORE INFO ABOUT WHAT COUNTRY SHE LEFT? OR A DESCRIPTION OF THE TYPE OF COUNTRY IF YOU THINK IT WOULD BE TOO MUCH OF AN IDENTIFICATION?]
“I became illegal and he started to use that against me, arguing that I needed to follow his rules”. [CAN YOU ADD SOME CONTEXT ABOUT HOW SHE BECAME ‘ILLEGAL’?] At the mercy of her partner, Gil told me how she became subject to sexual and psychological abuse as he hid her passport and repeatedly threatened to deport her.
After the abuse turned physical, Gil went to the police. “When I finally got the courage to run from him and report him, the police did nothing. They did not take me to the hospital so the doctor could check the conditions of the bruises on my body, they did not photograph me or even register the incident”, Gil explained. “Instead they told me to go back to my country. At the time this meant that homelessness was the only way for me.”
On International Women’s Day this year, Gil spoke in parliament to call on British politicians to support migrant and refugee rights, under the banner of “All Women Count”, lead by Women for Refugee Women and supported by politicians Diane Abbott, Stella Creasy, Jess Phillips and Kate Green.
Gil’s story left many in tears. But was it enough to challenge Theresa May’s “hostile environment” policy? A policy in which the government has intentionally made it harder for migrants to access many of the basics of dignified life – including shelter and healthcare – in the hope that it will persuade them to leave. Employers, landlords, universities, banks and doctors are being turned into border guards. A visit to a hospital or a job application could end in arrest, detention and deportation.
“Unfortunately, Gil’s case is not an isolated one. When women can’t seek protection from the police, who wins? These responses only give more power to perpetrators who know that their victims are more vulnerable because of their immigration status”, said Lucila Granada, director of the Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS), the organisation supporting Gil with her case.
Gil said that what still rings in her head was the police’s reaction to her claims against her husband. “They said to me, ‘we are not a hotel, we can’t help you, you need to get help from your embassy, not us’.”
Instead of helping them, migrant and refugee women are being turned away from statutory services and being diverted to other services.
Southall Black Sisters have said they have seen many organisations refusing to help women and children or abrogating their responsibility, such as suggesting the women return to their country (such as Gil’s case) or even recommending the child live with the perpetrator of domestic violence.
There is also a lack of understanding of the issues facing migrant women. Sawsan Salim, who has worked as director of the Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women’s Organisation for 19 years told me: “The police do not know enough about the violence against women, they are not trained in dealing with domestic violence cases.”
“The police say their power is limited due to the survivor’s immigration status. But they are not doing enough. The police have a responsibility to keep us safe.”
At the heart of the “hostile environment” is a culture of fear. And the biggest fear of all for many survivors is the fear of losing their children. It is this fear that the perpetrators often hang over the heads of their victims.
“Since 2012, I have been really vulnerable, I have been living in an up and down environment. I often had nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat, no money to survive.
“And in the end I am a loser. My abuser took my child. I have been victimised by police, social services, home office, all because I didn’t have anything to prove my identity. And they supported him because he is the British one and I am nothing,” Snur said to me. [CAN YOU GIVE ME ANY MORE INFO ABOUT WHERE SHE HAS COME FROM, AND WHAT KIND OF POSITION SHE HAD IN THE UK BEFORE THE PARTNER BEGAN ABUSING HER?]
Over the course of six years, Snur was repeatedly talked out of reporting her partner for physical abuse for fear of her life and immigration status. She is still fighting a custody battle over her daughter and claiming asylum, the first of which she is prioritising.
Gil faces the same barriers. Without immigration status, the authorities have told her that her daughter must remain with her partner.
“Right now I am in the Home Office’s hands. I am stuck. I am not free. Motherhood doesn’t exist anymore. I am just waiting for an answer,” Gil said.
Illary Valenzuela, from LAWRS, explained: “This year has been a critical year for women’s rights. The powerful movements of #MeToo and #TimesUp have made it impossible to ignore the violence face in their every day lives. But what about undocumented migrants or those with insecure legal status? Saying #MeToo for these women represents the grim choice between reporting the perpetrator or facing detention and deportation.”
The human rights organisation, as well as Gil herself, is at the forefront of the Step Up Migrant Women campaign which has banded together a collection of small but powerful organisations to demand a safer reporting system.
“Even if you’re undocumented, you still have human rights. Firewalls and safe mechanisms for reporting crimes are a practical way of keeping immigration control and essential services separate – without them, the Government is sanctioning suffering and discrimination and enforcing destitution,” said Gracie Bradley, Advocacy Officer at Liberty – a supporter of the campaign.
Despite this difficult dilemma, survivors of violence are still fighting for their rights. Snur is dedicated to getting her daughter back and Gil will not let her voice be silenced.
“I look at myself in the mirror and I tell myself not to give up. I just want to say to other survivors they are not alone. There are organisations that can support them. And they must raise their voice and demand their rights. This system has failed. I just want the authorities to look at each case carefully. People are not a statistic or a paper, we are human.”
Some names have been changed to protect interviewees’ identities.
More on the #StepUpMigrantWomen campaign here: https://stepupmigrantwomenuk.wordpress.com/
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