Domestic Violence Among Migrant Women: Policy Provisions and Responses

The report intends to highlight the issues faced by immigrant sponsored women in Australia. In this regard, the intention of the report is to provide the various regulations enacted by the government of Australia in order to provide support to the sponsored women in distress.

Running head: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AMONG MIGRANT WOMEN
Political Economy and Policy Making
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Cover letter
Department for Home Affairs/ Department of Immigration and Border Protection
GPO Box 241
Melbourne VIC 3001
Australia
01/02/2018
ATTN: The Hon Peter Dutton MP – Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Immigration
and Border Protection
Immigrant Women’s Support Service (IWSS) welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission
to Department for Home Affairs/ Department of Immigration and Border Protection regarding
policy provisions and responses on repeated/ serial spouse sponsorship to prevent domestic
violence among migrant women in Australia.
IWSS is an incorporated, not for profit organization which operates a specialist service response
for immigrant and refugee women and their children from different countries and also from non-
English background who have experienced any form of violence. It provides crisis and ongoing
case management support, legal support, counseling and advocacy services.
IWSS has been operating under an integrated model of service- combining the sexual assault and
domestic violence program to deliver an improved and more effective, holistic service to women
and their children
We have become increasingly attentive of the shortcomings in immigration policies and
legislation in alliance to support provision for migrant women suffering from domestic violence
or victim of serial spouse sponsorship. These shortcomings have a huge impact on the migrant
women who experience domestic violence every year.
Please receive our submission which specifies some areas of concern and recommendations in
order to address the identified areas for further enhancement.
Yours sincerely,
Immigrant Women’s Support Service
Phone No. 38 46 3490
[e-mail].

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Executive Summary
The report intends to highlight the issues faced by immigrant sponsored women in Australia. In
this regard, the intention of the report is to provide the various regulations enacted by the
government of Australia in order to provide support to the sponsored women in distress.
However, in 1994, Australian Migration Regulation took a fundamental step that is non-
Australian sponsored spouses and interdependent partners who are victims of domestic violence
by their Australian counterparts or their families are eligible to apply for permanent residence
notwithstanding the otherwise applicable two-year “probationary” period. In spite of all these
prevailing issues, there has been inadequate research on the topic of family migration. The report
emphasizes on the concern regarding repeat/ serial sponsorship, potential problems of
repeated/serial sponsorship and the rights concerning the safety of sponsored partners who has
been represented as victims of domestic violence (protection of those sponsored from domestic
violence). In the existence of various immigration policies, the intention of this report is to
identify the limitations of laws and policies in order to protect the rights of sponsored women.
The report is commissioned to examine and identify the gaps in order to provide proper
assistance to the interested parties, judges and tribunal members who hear such matters.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................4
1.1 Issues and Objectives:..........................................................................................................4
2. Body of Submission:...............................................................................................................5
2.1 Facts and Issues:...................................................................................................................5
2.2 Case study:............................................................................................................................6
2.3 Statistical representation of Spouse Migration Visas to Australia:................................8
2.4 Refusal on Visa applications:..............................................................................................9
2.5 Spouse Sponsorship Policies in Australia:.......................................................................10
2.6 Gaps identified in the policies of Spouse Sponsorship:..................................................11
3. Recommendations:...............................................................................................................11
Conclusion:...................................................................................................................................13
References:...................................................................................................................................14

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1. Introduction
1.1 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

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such limitations. This submission report will provide some recommendations 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.
2. Body of Submission:
2.1 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

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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 & Liamputtong, 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.
2.2 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 withdrawing

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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 limitations, 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

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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 women has been represented as
docile and ultra feminine and proved as devoted wives for the men of western countries which
added to their vulnerability.
2.3 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 2015–2016 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 2015–2016 were 24.1 percent lower than in 2014–2015.
Year 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016
Partner 47,752 47,825 47,642

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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.
2.4 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

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provide further support to the spouses and the abused spouses are unable 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.
2.5 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.

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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).
2.6 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..
3. 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.

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 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

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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. Therefore, it can be concluded that measures are
needed to be enforced in order to monitor the eligibility of the sponsors in order to sponsor a
partner in recent trends in order to protect women from violence.

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References:
Bhalla v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2016) FCA 395.
George, A., & Harris, B. (2014). Landscapes of violence: Women surviving family violence in
regional and rural Victoria.
Hawthorne, L. (2016). Labour market outcomes for migrant professionals: Canada and Australia
compared.
Henne, K., & Troshynski, E. (2013). Mapping the margins of intersectionality: Criminological
possibilities in a transnational world. Theoretical Criminology, 17(4), 455-473.
Hoban, E., & Liamputtong, P. (2013). Cambodian migrant women's postpartum experiences in
Victoria, Australia. Midwifery, 29(7), 772-778.
Khalifeh, H., Moran, P., Borschmann, R., Dean, K., Hart, C., Hogg, J., ... & Howard, L. M.
(2015). Domestic and sexual violence against patients with severe mental
illness. Psychological medicine, 45(4), 875-886.
McLaren, H. (2013). Domestic violence, housing and employment: Workers' perspectives on
employment assistance in supported accommodation. Australian Journal of Social
Issues, 48(4), 415-433..
Peterson, N. (2013). On the persistence of sharing: personhood, asymmetrical reciprocity, and
demand sharing in the Indigenous Australian domestic moral economy. The Australian
Journal of Anthropology, 24(2), 166-176.

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Phillips, J., & Vandenbroek, P. (2014). Domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia: an
overview of the issues. Department of Parliamentary Services, Parliamentary Library.
Rennison, C. M., DeKeseredy, W. S., & Dragiewicz, M. (2013). Intimate relationship status
variations in violence against women: Urban, suburban, and rural differences. Violence
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Salter, M. (2016). ‘Real men don't hit women’: Constructing masculinity in the prevention of
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Thurston, W. E., Roy, A., Clow, B., Este, D., Gordey, T., Haworth-Brockman, M., ... &
Carruthers, L. (2013). Pathways into and out of homelessness: Domestic violence and
housing security for immigrant women. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 11(3),
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Van den Broek, D., Harvey, W., & Groutsis, D. (2016). Commercial migration intermediaries
and the segmentation of skilled migrant employment. Work, employment and
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Webb, S. (2015). The feminisation of migration and the migrants VET policy neglects: the case
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Wong, J., & Mellor, D. (2014). Intimate partner violence and women’s health and wellbeing:
Impacts, risk factors and responses. Contemporary nurse, 46(2), 170-179.

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Zannettino, L., & McLaren, H. (2014). Domestic violence and child protection: towards a
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