6. Debate on the Equality and Social Justice Committee Report — 'Gender based violence: The needs of migrant women'

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:01 pm on 14 December 2022.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 5:01, 14 December 2022

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.