In July 2020 Women’s Safety NSW released their report ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Migrant and Refugee Women and Children Experiencing DFV’.
Whilst research on the prevalence of violence against migrant and refugee women is limited, what is known is that cultural, language and systemic barriers serve to reduce access to safety and support for this group of women, and they are at higher risk of domestic homicide. (AIC 2020). What has not yet been investigated, however, is the specific impact of COVID-19 on migrant and refugee women experiencing domestic and family violence. This report from Women’s Safety NSW offers the experiences and professional observations of multicultural domestic and family violence specialists supporting hundreds of these very women at this critical time. What they’ve reported is that migrant and refugee women who are experiencing domestic and family violence are at higher risk than they have ever been before and that urgent action is needed if we are going to save lives.
In order to compile this report, Women’s Safety NSW undertook extensive consultation with frontline multicultural domestic and family violence specialists through online surveys and discussion forums to ascertain how the COVID-19 outbreak was affecting their clients who are migrant and refugee women experience domestic and family violence (DFV).
Read more and access the report here.