Safety before status: The need for a firewall for migrant victims and survivors of domestic abuse

Sadly, we know that many victims and survivors of domestic abuse with insecure immigration status will not report abuse to the police or other statutory services because of the fear that their details will be passed onto Immigration Enforcement. The threat of immigration enforcement is often used by perpetrators to control their victims and dissuade them from going to the police, allowing dangerous offenders to continue to abuse safe in the knowledge that their victims and survivors will be too afraid to go to the police or seek the support and help they need.

This fear is well founded. Data recently published by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner (DAC) shows that all 43 police forces across England and Wales and the British Transport Police have indeed shared information about victims and survivors of domestic abuse with Immigration Enforcement at some point in the last three years. According to the figures obtained from the Home Office, the police made 537 referrals to the Home Office for immigration investigation in relation to victims and survivors reporting domestic abuse between April 2020 and March 2023. Whilst none of these immigration status checks resulted in enforcement action (such as detention or removal) being taken, it does not reduce the fear and insecurity felt by these migrant victims and survivors. In November this year, Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs wrote to the Home Secretary pointing out the fact that no immigration enforcement action was taken against victims highlighting that this practice is serving no one. But this data-sharing practice comes at an incredibly high cost to both the personal safety of victims and public safety more generally, as perpetrators evade justice.

The recommendation of the DAC, which CIH supports, is that there should be a firewall between Immigration Enforcement and statutory services, including the police. This would ensure that migrant victims and witnesses can safely report domestic abuse and other crimes without fear of immigration repercussions. DAC’s recommendation is for a data firewall amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill (currently at committee stage in Parliament) so that all victims are treated as victims first and foremost, regardless of their immigration status. This would increase their confidence in reporting and enable victims to access support and provide statutory services with the clarity needed to protect not only the victim but the wider public by bringing abusers to justice.

Providing secure support for domestic abuse victims and survivors regardless of their immigration status is essential. In our Homes at the heart housing manifesto, we highlight that although survivors of domestic abuse who are non-UK nationals are entitled to help under housing, homelessness and benefits rules, many do not receive it. Recognising and supporting survivors of domestic abuse who are non-UK nationals by extending the Domestic Violence Indefinite Leave to Remain (DVILR) and Destitution Domestic Violence Concession (DDVC) model for those on partner/spousal visas to all migrant victims regardless of their immigration status would further provide the confidence that speaking out is the right thing to do.