Rise in migrant women seeking support for gender-based violence
An organisation which supports migrant women affected by crime said that it has witnessed a rise in those seeking support who are exposed to gender-based violence. AkiDwA said there is a "huge" increase in migrant women and girls who are subjected to harm and who are contacting them.
It is impacting women from many countries and of all ages, including students and young girls, according to AkiDwA's Chief Executive, Dr Salome Mbugua.
"We have seen an increase in the number of women seeking support in both Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and domestic violence," she said. "We have almost 6,000 women who live in this country who have been subjected to FGM," she said.
The organisation is also supporting many women who are affected by violence in the home and those in child marriages.
One of their tasks is raising awareness among migrant women about what constitutes violence. "Most women identify with physical violence but don't identify with sexual violence," she said. She also outlines aspects of domestic violence where women can't access money and are deprived in this way.
Women's Aid, which provides support to victims of domestic violence, said, on average, 40% of the women who contact them face to face are from outside Ireland.
"So, proportionate to the migrant population in the country, that's considerably higher," explained Sarah Benson, Chief Executive of Women's Aid. She explains how their circumstances are often more precarious. "Of course, their vulnerability and circumstances where they might be subjected to domestic, sexual or other forms of gender-based violence can be higher," she said.
In some cases, where the women are at risk from a partner or their former partner their children are also suffering harm. She also warns that a lack of knowledge of what constitutes a crime can prevent victims from coming forward.
"If there are countries where, for example, there isn't strong legislation or sanctions for domestic violence or other forms of sexual violence, it can normalise and minimise that and perhaps make it less likely that somebody might be able to access safety or justice".
She also describes the difficult situations migrant women can find themselves in where "if they don't speak the language" and they are being subjected to coercive control. "You are lied to about your rights and entitlements, or you're simply not exposed to the fact that there is help."
Women's Aid phone line currently offers help in 240 languages. Last year it supported women in over 30 languages. After English, the most calls were through Polish followed by Portuguese.
In recent years there has also been more focus on providing training to frontline services to ensure that professionals in certain sectors are familiar with harmful cultures and practices. AkiDwA is tasked with providing this nationwide.
"The cultural norms are one of the key challenges that service providers face," Dr Mbugua explained. "We have women who require support from many different backgrounds. She highlights how most of their referrals come from hospitals, social workers and healthcare professionals. "We support them so they can handle issues coming into their hospitals."
Those issues include the many cases of female genital mutilation, a cruel practice that is still prevalent in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Currently around 1,600 girls are at risk of FGM in Ireland, according to Dr Mbugua.
The support that these victims need is both psychological and physical, with surgery and counselling seen as integral to their recovery. Victims of FGM in Ireland are currently on waiting lists for surgery of up to 10 months.
She is calling for more education and advocacy around FGM and other forms of gender-based violence in schools. "Many schools are not aware of this violence," she explained.
There is also despondency among those who support vulnerable women over the current system for those entering direct provision.
Sarah Benson describes how the women and girls may be subject to sexual exploitation or domestic violence. She wants to see more recognition that "this is happening within systems" to make sure that there are safe spaces for women and children and "recognising that before they ever arrive in this country."
She said female migrants, particularly those who are fleeing conflict, are "disproportionately likely to have experienced sexual violence" on their journey here. "So, receiving them into standard direct provision centres is simply not acceptable. I don't think yet that the system properly recognises the gendered nature of migration into this country and is has quite a lot that it could do to improve, specifically, the response to women and children."
The Chief Executive of Ruhama, Barbara Condon, echoes these concerns. "A key difficulty is accessing safe and appropriate accommodation for victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation," she said. She also speaks about how stigma and shame associated with sexual violence and exploitation can be a barrier to seeking support.
However, the charity has seen an increase in the number of women and girls contacting their services in the last few years. Early indications show there has been a further rise in the first few months of this year. Approximately 90% of the women that Ruhama support are migrant women.
According to AkiDwA, migrants are feeling safer in Ireland compared to two years ago when tensions flared around migration. However, safety behind closed doors remains a massive issue for many of these women and girls.
The Minister for Justice has said a priority is ensuring that Cuan, the agency set up to tackle domestic sexual and gender-based violence, has the resources required to meet the demands of "diverse" and "new communities".
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