Valencia (Catalina Valencia) is a victim of domestic violence. (picture of Australian newspaper)
Last year, nearly 450 immigrants who relied on their spouses for domestic violence were allowed to stay in Australia, even if they and their spouses had been released from relationship, the Australian newspaper reported. The Australian newspaper reported that nearly 450 immigrants who had been subjected to domestic violence after relying on their spouses to come to Australia had been allowed to stay in Australia last year, even though they and their spouses had been released from Australia.
According to other data, nearly 3400 victims have been granted visas to stay in Australia over the past six years on the grounds of domestic violence. Of these, 89% are women.
Last year, 637 people applied for visas on the grounds of domestic violence, an increase of 3 percent over 2017. However, the volume of visas was reduced to 447, a decrease of 9 percent.
(Jatinder Kaur), a social worker in Brisbane and an anti-domestic violence maintain legal rights, said she thought the approval process had been tightened, which was frustrating.
Kohl said it was difficult to appeal to those who had been refused to sign. "it is really difficult for these vulnerable women to pay immigrants lawer or intermediaries to submit all written materials."
In addition, Home Office (Department of Home Affairs) shows that in the past six years, most of the people who have been signed for domestic violence have been victims from India, China, Vietnam, the Philippines and the United Kingdom.
In accordance with the new rules introduced in 2012, recipients of temporary spouse visas (Temporary Partner Visa) or unmarried husband and wife visas (Prospective Marriage Visa), or outstanding talent visas (Distinguished Talent Visa), may still apply for stay in Australia in the event of domestic violence and the end of their partner relationship.
In a Senate question, Kowell said, it had been proposed to extend the Family violence Ordinance (FVP) to other categories of family visas and to introduce a new "Australian woman at risk" visa. Government`s attitude towards this is "muddy and watery".
Ministry of the Interior speaker said the regulations were designed to ensure that people "do not feel forced to maintain a violence relationship." "(Family Violence Unit), the Anti-domestic violence Unit of the Ministry of the Interior, will assess complaints of domestic violence and provide referrals to aid services. Those who are not eligible for a visa under the Family violence regulations are also included."
"in cases where relationship breaks down as a result of domestic violence, but does not apply to family violence regulations, government`s policy is that visas held by suspected victims should not be revoked. This gives visa holders flexibility in whether to stay in Australia or they can make departure arrangements or submit another visa application."
Valencia (Catalina Valencia), a former Spanish interpreter, says much more needs to be done to improve migrant women`s understanding of their rights and their access to services.
Valencia, from South America, is a domestic violence survivor who understands how difficult it is to end relationship with her partner without family support, isolated victims of domestic violence.
She added that it was even harder for women who did not speak English to ask for help. Many migrant women like to listen to foreign language media such as SBS Radio and should do more to promote aid services through these channels.
