Item 6 this afternoon is the debate on the Equality and Social Justice Committee's report on 'Gender based violence: The needs of migrant women', and I call on the Chair of the committee to move the motion. Jenny Rathbone.

Motion NDM8166 Jenny Rathbone

To propose that the Senedd:

Notes the Equality and Social Justice Committee report on 'Gender based violence: The needs of migrant women', laid on 26 October 2022.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Research demonstrates that migrant women are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence. This is hardly surprising, as they face multiple forms of abuse and extra challenges when it comes to accessing support. This debate is not just about the position of asylum seekers; there are very large numbers of people living in this country, and including in Wales, mainly women, who come to this country on spouse visas or student visas, neither of which allow any recourse to public funds, and who therefore could be vulnerable to bullying, to human trafficking and human slavery. There are sadly always people out there ready to take advantage of gaps in vulnerability and support mechanisms. So, this is a particular group that the stakeholders told us were an area of policy that needed to be tightened up because of the difficulties that service providers were having in providing an adequate service to support these vulnerable people.

This is about language barriers, it's about cultural norms. People who come to this country may not be aware they're breaking the law if they're committing acts of domestic violence. And also we have had cases of immigration abuse, and they all cause more difficulties for these women in need of help, coupled with a lack of trust in front-line services, and in particular how their information might be shared.

So, engagement with survivors is crucial in understanding the complex issues and shaping an informed and refined policy approach. I want to thank all those who contributed to our inquiry, but particularly to the women who shared their stories with us courageously and with honesty. Their contributions were vital to our understanding of the issues involved. I also want to thank the Senedd's community engagement team who enabled that to be possible, as well as the research and clerking teams who supported our committee's work.

Language is a key challenge for migrant women—this is not stating the obvious. It can hinder awareness raising—messages on buses, in public toilets are not going to be read by somebody who can't read English—and it also puts a barrier in the way of prevention strategies and access to support. There's very limited availability of interpretation services, and women often end up relying on family members or other people in their communities to interpret for them. And this has huge implications for both their dignity and the accuracy of what support workers are being told. So, we are very pleased that the Welsh Government has accepted our first recommendation, to ensure that there is much more accessibility to independent and professional interpreting, and we'd be very keen to find out whether that's made a noticeable difference in due course.

Unsurprisingly, women who are migrants often have limited understanding of what their rights are and the support available to them, simply because they're not familiar with any of the laws that we may have passed here or, indeed, in the UK Parliament. So, it's very important that we use the informal networks that people might—you hope—have access to from other people in their community, from other members of their particular ethnic group, because they're more likely to turn to them if they don't have very wide networks with other people. So, awareness-raising and prevention strategies need to take place at grass-roots level, whether it's word of mouth, WhatsApp, or other ways, and I applaud the fact that the Welsh Government has agreed to talk to survivors to inform the effectiveness of that strategy. We very much welcome the establishment of the survivor voice scrutiny and involvement panel, and look forward to seeing what recommendations they come up with.

When it comes to no recourse to public funds, it leaves a huge dilemma for service providers who are not funded to do this sort of thing. It also means that there are difficulties for the Welsh Government as well, because no recourse to public funds is what it says on the tin, and it very much sits on the jagged edge between devolved and reserved responsibilities. They're simply not allowed to access services paid for by the public purse, so if they've been physically assaulted, maybe they can turn up in the emergency department and get emergency treatment, but they certainly won't be eligible for counselling to overcome their trauma. 

Last year's 'Uncharted Territory Review' noted that the question of funding for refuge provision for women and girls was as big an issue in 2013 as it was in 2021, and data from Welsh Women's Aid shows that in 2020-21 there was a 29 per cent increase in the number of survivors who were refused a refuge space due to lack of resourcing compared to the previous financial year, and obviously that's an extremely worrying situation. Yes, organisations can apply to the Home Office for suspension of the no recourse to public funds because of evidence of violence, but the time it takes to get a decision is unlikely to be immediately, or, indeed, a reply the next day. No recourse to public funds is a UK-wide policy in a reserved area of responsibility, but there are still things that Welsh Government can do to fill the gap. For example, in Scotland, the Ending Destitution Together scheme involves a partnership approach between the Scottish Government and local government, and this gives that gap funding to service providers to enable them to immediately ensure that the woman is safe whilst they're negotiating with the Home Office. I appreciate absolutely that the Welsh Government has accepted nearly all our recommendations and has given very good and coherent answers where they're only able to accept them in principle. 

The next area that we looked at is the issue of data. It would be really helpful if we knew a lot more about exactly how many people are involved and what ethnic groups they come from, whether there's any particular pattern to this. Often, service providers don't actually ask what ethnicity or, indeed, their immigration status is in many circumstances because they don't want to appear to be discriminating against somebody based on their situation—they want to help them. So, records are patchy. We simply don't know how many of these people are working, whether they have children, therefore whether they're in touch with public services, which is much more likely than if they're not working and are without children to ensure they're picking them up from school et cetera. 

Recommendation 10 calls for the Welsh Government to use data from the equality, race and disability units to establish baselines to inform future monitoring and targeting of services. The Welsh Government has accepted this, although we note that the mapping exercises and data-sharing agreements that need to be developed will take time. Sarah Murphy is a member of our committee, ever vigilant on how our data is used, by whom, and for what purpose, so our report highlights the importance of migrant women having a clear understanding of what is happening to their data, and that additional support may be needed to make sure they are giving informed consent, rather than nodding without understanding what they're consenting to.

You won't be surprised to know that migrant survivors are often prevented from reporting abuse to the police for fear that their data may be shared with immigration enforcement. We were assured that this never happens, but I don't think we can say 'never'. But at least it is the official position of the police that they will not share this data with immigration services unless there was a major criminal or terrorist issue involved with that individual. We suggested that there was a need to establish a firewall to restrict the sharing of data between agencies on those who seek support for sexual and gender-based violence, so that we have a much more accurate picture. The Welsh Government has accepted this in principle because, obviously, they don't control what the UK Government gets up to. But we look forward to hearing in future what progress is made in discussions with devolved and non-devolved partners to understand the issues around data sharing, the impact on migrant victims, and to consider options for a firewall.

Generally, we welcome very much the Minister's engagements with our inquiry, and the collaborative approach that Jane Hutt has shown to strengthening the new strategy on violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence for the next five years to include a section dealing specifically with the needs of migrant women and children and those who are subject to no recourse to public funds. In the Minister's response, she notes that supporting migrant victims of violence and domestic abuse and sexual violence, including those with NRPF, is already addressed in the strategy as a key priority. We suggest there needs to be a specific section in the strategy tailored to the needs of migrant women because of the level of their vulnerability and the possibility they will fall between cracks in services. I look forward to everybody else's comments.

As a member of Equality and Social Justice Committee, I am pleased to be able to contribute to this debate on our report on gender-based violence and the needs of migrant women. Before I reflect on some of the key messages and challenges outlined in this report, I would like to thank our committee chair, Jenny Rathbone, all our staff who have supported this inquiry, and indeed all those who gave evidence in the course of our work. Since the publication of the report, the Welsh Government has accepted the committee's recommendations, either fully or in principle. I welcome the positive response and I hope the committee will keep this work under review over the next 12 months as the Minister puts in place those measures the committee have identified.

The evidence was clear that refugee, migrant and asylum-seeking women fleeing violence and abuse experience a range of challenges that are, in many ways, unique in comparison to others. Women in these groups tend to experience a higher level of violence, not only on their migration journey, but also because of barriers such as age, language, isolation, insecure immigration status and poverty. There are sets of characteristics that place these women at greater risk and for which we need to do more. During the course of the review, I was keen to ensure that more focus would be put on those areas of prevention and early intervention. Much of the evidence pointed to the problems of ensuring that intervention is built around getting information and support to migrant women before any abuse takes place. Some of those were clear that the intervention and prevention agenda simply is not where it should be, and that organisations tend to be reactive once the abuse has so tragically taken place.

In their evidence, BAWSO said that work on prevention is not there, and I think that is something that the Welsh Government could fund. In our report, we set out how there is a clear need for survivor voices to shape our approach to communication, and that we should not underestimate the importance of working within the communities to ensure that messages are disseminated to help build trust and confidence, both of which are essential to encourage victims to come forward. The committee has welcomed the Minister's commitment to developing a survivor voice scrutiny and involvement panel, but this has to be more than just listening, because without action to respond to the challenges faced by migrant women, that talk will be pointless. Our recommendation is that this engagement should be in the development of a community strategy on awareness raising and prevention, which can form guidance to statutory bodies. This is the right approach, as much more is needed to improve awareness raising and prevention, but the statutory bodies can be supported and influenced in what they do through better guidance.

In accepting this, our second recommendation needs to drive the improvement that those who gave evidence were calling for. Along with a detailed plan to advance all the recommendations, I believe the earlier we intervene to support migrant women facing violence and abuse, the better. Thank you very much.

The main thrust of our recommendations concerns improving support for a particular group of women, who are too often neglected and even invisible to society. I have certainly heard evidence that will stay with me forever about the experience of survivors from migrant communities. We looked at what can be done to ensure these women are seen, are heard, are supported, and are able to feel safe. I welcome the undeniable commitment of the Minister to addressing the levels of violence against women and girls, domestic abuse and sexual violence in Wales, and the response of the Government to the recommendations of our report reflects this, I think.

Centring survivor voice is often claimed by strategies, and the Government refers in its response to the report to the many cross-cutting action plans that are relevant to supporting migrant women that aim to do this. I accept the work is ongoing, but I would like to emphasise that we found many examples of where survivors and their communities had not been adequately listened to or consulted. This seemed especially true of raising-awareness campaigns around what constitutes abuse and when and where to access support. We have to do more to ensure we are engaging with women of all cultures and nationalities, to ensure they are protected, that they know their rights, and that they're able to seek help if needed—truly simple things, like some of the things Jenny Rathbone referenced: understanding women are more likely to see an advert on a bus than go to a website, as digital exclusion is such a huge barrier, appreciating where migrant women are, in the words of one of BAWSO's officers, 'allowed to go'. Migrant women we spoke to told us that traditional media is more accessible to them than social media, but, as Jenny Rathbone said, they impressed on us that this content must be available in different languages.

I think what this report also again foregrounds, and again Jenny referenced this, is this jagged edge between the devolved and reserved powers and responsibilities of which we speak so often in this place, Minister, especially when it comes to matters of social justice and equalities. So much of the evidence we heard was around how the UK Government's policy of no recourse to public funds is such a huge barrier for those experiencing sexual or gender-based violence and seeking support. I want to repeat some of the evidence we heard about the impact of that policy, because I think it's a danger that politicians don't always fully grasp, or can become desensitised to the human story behind that jargon and those legal terms that we hear or read so often in policy documents and reports. One contributor to one of our focus groups, whose work is supporting migrant women with experience of VAWDASV, gave an example of a pregnant asylum seeker with no recourse to public funds,

'She cries every day saying she's not comfortable where she is, the accommodation is terrible, there's smoke in the kitchen, doors are broken, she doesn't feel safe, she doesn't know who the accommodation manager is because she's just been put there and no-one comes to see her. Because she has no recourse to public funds, I can't apply for benefits or accommodation for her.'

And we have to remember these are women who have suffered trauma. Some of the trauma we heard about was unimaginable to most of us—truly, truly unimaginable. And this policy means that there is no help for these women who need our help so badly. 

But, powerfully, our report does make recommendations that could really help try to smooth that jagged edge in some cases for these women. It was evident that a crisis fund that service providers can access to support migrant women who are survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and are subject to no recourse to public funds, modelled on the Scottish Government's approach, would be extremely helpful, and I'm really glad to see that the Government has accepted this recommendation and would urge its implementation as a matter of urgency. Our aim to be a nation of sanctuary would be so well supported by this approach. And, given the central role of immigration status in the evidence we heard and the terrifying plans and disgusting rhetoric that we are hearing from the Westminster Tory Government around their approach and attitude to those seeking sanctuary, measures such as this are completely crucial to counter this in Wales. I invite you, Minister, to join me in placing on record today our utter condemnation of calls within the Tory party to try to pull the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights in order to remove rights from some of the most vulnerable people on this planet. Similar hateful rhetoric has been echoed online from Conservative Members in this place, which is all the more shameful as we enter the Christmas period, a holiday that has its foundation in gifting, sharing, goodwill and providing refuge.

To conclude, quite simply, no woman living in Wales should be unable to access vital support, such as specialist supported accommodation, because of their immigration status. Everyone has a right to be safe and to lead a life free of abuse and fear. I'm hopeful that the recommendations of our report will help ensure that. 

I'd like to thank the Welsh Government for its response and my colleagues and clerks on the committee for their work, and all the organisations and people who spoke to us and contributed to this report. 'Gender based violence: The needs of migrant women' report looked into many aspects of domestic violence against women and the needs of migrant women, and I am pleased that the Welsh Government has accepted or accepted in principle all of the recommendations.

Many of the recommendations focus on access to services that can enable women to come forward and get help free from shame and judgment, and I would like to use my contribution today to expand on recommendations 10 to 13, which Jenny Rathbone has mentioned, which address the issues around the data that is collected and shared about migrant women who are experiencing VAWDASV, as well as highlight the work of the cross-party group on digital rights and democracy in Wales that has recently held a further panel discussion to explore this.

Recommendation 12 calls on the Welsh Government, police and local authorities to address concerns around the data sharing and survivors' willingness to seek support. Organisations such as BAWSO and the Equality and Human Rights Commission stated that this fear of data being shared with immigration enforcement and the Home Office was fundamentally stopping victims coming forward. Despite there being no legal duty for the police to share information with immigration enforcement, those working on the ground are telling us that this does happen and this fear is perpetuated amongst communities and used by perpetrators to coerce victims. 

Elizabeth from the Step Up Migrant Women coalition has told recently of a case of a woman experiencing high-risk domestic abuse. The victim was undocumented as part of her abuse. Her caseworker recommended reporting it to the police because of the high risk of the situation. Eight days after they did an online report to the police, she received an immigration enforcement letter. Police officers came to her house, and when they realised that she was undocumented, they called the immigration enforcement in front of her. So, it builds on what Jenny Rathbone was saying before, and it builds on what Sioned Williams was saying as well: I promise you that, if you ask women, they will tell you very many more stories of this happening. 

Recommendation 11 called for the Welsh Government to set out how it plans to ensure that, when collecting data from migrant women, they have a clear understanding of what is happening with their data and how it will inform future decision-making. It is imperative that we empower migrant women to know exactly who is using their data and why. By doing so, we will dismantle that fear associated with the data sharing, making consent a normalised practice for our personal data.

From a different perspective, the cross-party group found that organisations on the ground helping migrant women want to be able to question how and why authorities will use data when it is being requested from them, so this included bodies like Public Health Wales, and this recommendation, accepted by the Welsh Government, could enable them to do that. Prioritising data transparency will empower both the individual and organisations to protect victims from potential data harms and build trust for those who desperately need a safe place to turn to.

Finally, recommendation 13 outlines that the Welsh Government should establish a firewall that restricts the sharing of data between agencies on those who seek support for sexual and gender-based violence. A firewall would essentially put a block on systems used by the police authorities to share the data of victims of domestic abuse with immigration enforcement. The Welsh Government has accepted this in principle, whilst noting that police forces are governed by UK GDPR, and this puts constraints on the powers of the Welsh Government to enforce. But in Holland, the committee heard of a 'safe in, safe out' policy, where migrants with insecure immigration status can come to the police stations and report crime with a certainty that their immigration status won't take precedence or won't be shared with immigration enforcement officers. This is about setting a precedent that victims will be seen as victims and not as criminals for an immigration status. Similar good practice is taking place between the police authorities in north Wales and BAWSO, and I would urge that the Welsh Government takes this into consideration when scoping out nationwide policy, especially as conversations around the devolution of justice and policing continue to take place. Very much what you were saying, Sioned, about the jagged edge, because this is also the visa and immigration and Home Office too.

The committee heard from deputy chief constable Amanda Blakeman that any data sharing should be focused on the safeguarding of the victim, and this could include court protection, accommodation or other safeguarding measures. When data is shared about victims of domestic violence that is not about safeguarding the victim, and that victim has no knowledge of this, it is a failure of the system.

I want to urge that we ensure that no woman is left behind because of this, and that all victims can come forward and find safety. Data, when handled in the correct manner, is a crucial element of supporting victims. However, in a nation of sanctuary, we cannot ignore that migrant women facing domestic abuse continue to be hidden because of the system. We must make sure that they are able to have a voice here in Wales, a voice without fear of those systems and a system that will always see victims of domestic base as victims, no matter the circumstances.

And just to end, I do stand with you, Sioned Williams, in condemning the Tories in Westminster for any way that they try to undermine the human rights legislation. Thank you.

I call on the Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt.

Diolch, Deputy Llywydd. I'm very grateful to the committee for conducting this inquiry on gender-based violence impacting on migrant women, and thank all of those who gave evidence, but especially those who shared their lived experiences, and the specialist services that support them. And it is only by working together, including taking into account all sources of evidence and our findings, that we can effect real change.

The Equality and Social Justice Committee's report highlights many areas where we will continue as Welsh Government to focus our efforts in order to protect migrant women from violence and abuse, and the Welsh Government's formal response to this report was published last week on 7 December. We know that violence and abuse have significant and long-lasting impacts for victims and those around them. The committee's report alongside the sexual and gender-based violence against refugees from displacement to arrival—SEREDA—research report, which, in fact, I welcomed and received in May of this year, and the 'Uncharted Territory' report show that this is particularly acute for refugee migrant and asylum-seeking women. And many of these women face multiple forms of abuse, including domestic violence, sexual violence, honour-based abuse, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and immigration abuse and trafficking. And these groups face higher levels of violence, not only in their migration journeys, but also when they reach their destination. And as the Chair of the Equality and Social Justice Committee has highlighted, additional barriers, such as the lack of support networks, language barriers and no recourse to public funds, often leave those experiencing abuse with little or no choice but to stay in, or return to dangerous and abusive situations. Victims and survivors of violence against women, sexual violence and domestic abuse also have the added complexity of no recourse to public funds, they're one of the most vulnerable and marginalised groups in society, as Members have clearly shown in the report and also elaborated on today.

Wales cannot and will not be a bystander to abuse, and that's why the report and its recommendations are so welcome. I'm really pleased that the report includes the important works and makes the connections with our commitment to Wales being a nation of sanctuary. I've long been clear that our nation of sanctuary approach demonstrates our Welsh Government values. The nation of sanctuary plan contains clear cross-Government commitments to reducing the inequalities faced by sanctuary seekers, and this includes supporting survivors of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.

On Friday, I attended the online session organised by the cross-party group on digital rights and democracy in Wales, and the meeting explored the impact of data sharing on migrant women facing domestic violence, and it was an excellent opportunity to discuss the inequalities faced by migrant women fleeing domestic abuse and sexual violence, recognising the fears and concerns that many migrants have about who might have access to their personal information and how that information might be used in different ways. These concerns are very understandable, especially when we consider the situations and regimes that some migrant women have escaped from.

Nevertheless, as the committee's inquiry found, efforts to support migrant women can be frustrated by a lack of robust data. To enable migrant women to access the protection and support that they need, there will be occasions where data will need to be shared between organisations. So, our response as a Welsh Government to the Equality and Social Justice Committee's report put forward a number of recommendations relating to data and data sharing, and in our response, we identified additional measures that could be put into place to ensure better outcomes for victims of gender-based violence. We do understand the concerns around data sharing between organisations, which, again, have been discussed today, but we also recognise the importance of ensuring that victims of abuse need to have a clear understanding of what happens with their data and, where appropriate, give their consent to data being shared.

In 2021, the Welsh Government, in collaboration with partners from the specialist violence against women sector, established a steering group to review the support available to those fleeing violence and abuse with no recourse to public funds. This group is chaired by the national advisers for gender-based abuse, and it's central to finding solutions that work for Wales. While immigration is not devolved, we're committed to working with partners within Wales and to raising our concerns with the UK Government to find solutions that can address these inequalities.

We're still awaiting the evaluation of the Home Office's support for migrant victims scheme, and while this scheme has provided a lifeline for the victims fleeing abuse, the problems of people with no recourse to public funds are entirely of the UK Government's making. This scheme has its limitations, and we don't intend to wait for the Home Office report. Instead, we will put victims and survivors first, and we've accepted the committee's recommendation relating to a fund to support migrant victims with NRPF. My officials are currently scoping the best approach for Wales, and we're committed to meeting the needs of this group of victims and survivors.

As has been said today, the unimaginable trauma that migrant women face—this is where we have to respond to this, and I believe, in accepting that recommendation, the work, I can assure Members, is already under way. I want to assure Members that, actually, work on all the recommendations is now under way. They really inform the way we're taking forward our new and refreshed national strategy for tackling violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.

I think it's important that I do co-chair the national partnership board with Dafydd Llywelyn, this is a blueprint approach with devolved and non-devolved. Yes, there's a huge jagged edge here, isn't there, and I recognise that, but we have got to move that forward in terms of understanding and holding to account the roles and powers of devolved and non-devolved authorities and organisations. We've already invited the Welsh Refugee Council to sit on the national partnership board—that's part of the governance structure to take forward our strategy, published in May. BAWSO already sits on the board. And can I pay tribute to BAWSO for the specialist work that they do? They, actually, are part of the Home Office pilot as well. They're fundamental to Wales and, of course, they ensure that migrant women do have an important survivor voice. 

We've included our work on no recourse to public funds in the upcoming annual violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence report; it's being published in December. That's a statutory requirement under the VAWDASV Act, and we will continue to report on our work to support victims and survivors in future years.

We've also engaged with safeguarding boards regarding the committee's findings in relation to reviewing the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014, and that will help both us and the safeguarding board partners to reflect on their responsibilities. 

So, just finally, Deputy Llywydd, this is a testament—this report today—to the urgency that we all, I think, united here today, have placed upon protecting victims. We will play our part as a Welsh Government. I welcome the call to action in the committee's report, and this is an ambition that's set out in our programme for government, which clearly states that we want Wales to be the safest place in Europe to be a woman. And let's be clear, we don't just mean for some women, we mean all women: women who've had to flee conflict, women who have no recourse to public funds, women who are seeking asylum, women who are refugees. And as part of our nation of sanctuary commitment, we seek to strengthen and advance equality and human rights in Wales, and that is our message to the UK Government. 

I call on Jenny Rathbone to reply to the debate.

Thank you very much, and thank you, Minister, for mentioning that we also heard from two other Ministers, the Minister for health and the Deputy Minister for Social Services, particularly in relation to the importance of the social services and well-being Act and whether it was being fully taken account of in addressing the issues of anybody who suffers from gender-based violence, regardless of their immigration status. So, we very much look forward to that review.

I thank my colleagues on the committee for their remarks in heightening the issues that we have been discussing, because we have to remember that any of us could come across this issue in our constituency work, because migrant women are everywhere. You can't say that they're in one particular place or another; people are all over Wales, and we need to ensure that all our services are equipped to deal appropriately when they come across gender-based violence being suffered by migrant women.

And we did hear examples—. Along with the harrowing stories that Sioned mentioned, we heard lots of good examples of good practice by different agencies where migrant women had disclosed evidence of being victims of domestic violence, where the police, the schools, employers, health, community centres and voluntary advice bodies all understood that they needed to act and not be a bystander and had referred people, in the main to BAWSO or another specialist organisation, because, often, the language barrier is very significant. But, of course, we have no idea about the numbers of women who are too frightened to come forward and who remain in violent relationships.

I absolutely applaud the work you're doing with Dafydd Llywelyn, one of the police commissioners, because it's a very difficult area, this, isn't it? As was mentioned by Sioned Williams, the whole upheaval around human rights policy creates a hostile environment for people fleeing discrimination, famine and conflict, and if they're too terrified to come forward because they think they might be sent back to the area they've come from, then you can see that it makes it even more difficult for them to get the help where it's needed. In light of the concerns that were raised earlier about poor behaviour in the police and the fire services, we have to ensure that all services understand that we are a nation of sanctuary, that we need to respond appropriately when survivors of violence come forward, regardless of their immigration status, regardless of their ability, at that point, to have recourse to public funds. We look forward to working with the Minister, who obviously has an absolute passion for ensuring that this subject is addressed appropriately and to the best of our ability. So, I hope that other Members will find this report helpful.

The proposal is to note the committee's report. Does any Member object? No. The motion is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.