POLICY BRIEF: Strategies to Support Migrant Victim-Survivors of Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse refers to incidents of emotional, psychological, economic, physical or sexual abuse, controlling, coercive, violent or threatening behaviour between partners, ex-partners, or family members (Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Part 1(1)). Victim-survivors can suffer serious physical injuries and psychological consequences, with survivors having high rates of mental health problems including depression and PTSD (Mechanic et al., 2008). There is also a financial cost, estimated at £66 billion in 2017 in England and Wales (Oliver et al., 2019). Therefore, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 is important legislation, yet it is flawed by failing to address additional challenges victim-survivors with insecure immigration status face. This policy brief will give recommendations to improve support for migrant victim-survivors.