Home Office declines to implement data-sharing firewall to protect migrant victims of domestic abuse

We are extremely disappointed by the Home Office’s decision not to establish a firewall which would have allowed victims to safely report domestic abuse and other serious crimes without fear of deportation. This directly goes against the recommendations of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, the College of Policing and the Independent Office of Police Conduct, as well as numerous expert organisations working with survivors of domestic abuse.  

A person’s immigration status should not have any bearing on their ability to flee an abusive situation and seek safety. Yet data-sharing between the police and Home Office Immigration Enforcement means that victims of crime who have insecure immigration status are often too afraid to report crimes to the police or seek help when they need it, for fear that this might lead to detention and deportation.  

Every day, Praxis encounters women who are forced to choose between an abusive situation and the streets. Many end up trapped in destitution and homeless, often together with their children.  

K is a survivor of domestic abuse. When she fled her abuser with her young child, she was so afraid to approach the police to ask for help in case they reported her to the Home Office that she considered taking her own life. Praxis was able to help K access the safety and support she needed.  

The measures proposed by the Home Office today will be not be enough to keep women like K safe from harm. Our experience is that short-term measures to pause immigration enforcement temporarily while investigation and prosecution proceedings are underway is not enough to reassure survivors of domestic abuse and other serious crimes that it is safe to report the crimes they have experienced.