Where there is no recourse, there’s no safety for survivors

Photo by Feminist Collages London

In 1971, the first refuge opened its doors to women and children fleeing domestic abuse in the UK. This paved the way for many more to come, and decades later, hundreds of them are providing an essential lifeline for people escaping violence – often with limited resources. But for many migrant survivors of abuse, those refuges are inaccessible: prevented from getting support and services funded by the state by the “no recourse to public funds” policy, people with limited leave to remain or without papers cannot get vital help when they’re most in need.

At Praxis, we see the tragic consequences of this policy on people who have experienced domestic violence every day. In escaping their abusers, many have nowhere to go to seek help and cannot access any state funded support, leaving them homeless, destitute and in crisis.

While deprived of a safety net when in crisis, the no recourse to public funds policy also leaves people, and women in particular, vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Employers might know you cannot afford to lose your job as you won’t have access to state support. Landlords might know it would be harder for you to find another place to rent because of the stigma associated with the no recourse to public funds condition, and that you could be turned away from emergency housing services.

In cases of domestic violence, people who are most marginalised, have more complex needs, or suffer discrimination or stigma, often face greater barriers in accessing protection and support – including women of colour, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex survivors, and people with disabilities. For migrant women and people experiencing violence, these barriers can turn into walls when they are locked out of support and forced to choose between staying in an abusive relationship or leaving without having anywhere safe to go. This is an impossible choice, one nobody should have to make.

But there are ways to improve protections and support for migrant survivors so they can leave their abuser and begin to rebuild their lives.

The Domestic Abuse bill is soon to be debated in the House of Lords - together we can campaign for it to include a provision removing the no recourse to public funds condition from people experiencing abuse, and to allow them to apply to settle in the UK. These protections had already been introduced in 2012 for women on a spousal visa, thanks to mobilisation of organisations working with and led by Black and minoritised women. Now it is our chance to extend them to all migrant survivors of violence, and we need to take it.

And crucially, the government needs to abandon the no recourse to public funds policy entirely: its very existence is putting people at risk of abuse and pushes them into poverty when they try to escape. It has no place in our society. Let’s make sure everyone can be safe from violence, without exception.

Praxis will soon be launching a campaign to abolish the no recourse to public funds policy. Find out how you can join by signing up to our newsletter.