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Not Yet Home Free:
Immigrant/Refugee Women and the
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
by Patricia Harewood
Women in
Canada who face violence as new immigrants, refugees or participants in a sponsorship program cannot
depend on the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (2001) to adequately shield them from further male
violence or wife abuse.
For many immigrant and refugee women and other women’s groups in Canada, this comes as no surprise.
With
perseverance and courage, women have been solidly lobbying Citizenship and Immigration Canada to
make changes to this legislation and the criminal-justice system to better protect immigrant and
refugee women facing male violence. They have spoken out based on their own experiences as
immigrants and refugees or as frontline workers. What has emerged from research is that the
experience of newcomer women facing violence is unique; their uncertain immigrant or refugee
status is compounded by domestic violence, language barriers, racism, poverty, a lack of social
support networks and/or a lack of knowledge about public services. (Smith, 2004)
Indeed, a
gender-based and anti-racist analysis reveals that the Act does not adequately respond to the needs and
capacities of immigrant and refugee women who are being abused. Examples of women who may be victims of
male violence and fall under the Act include:
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a woman applicant for refugee status who has fled domestic abuse back home.
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a woman who is a live-in caregiver in a private home in Canada and is facing sexual and racist
abuse from her employer.
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a woman who has signed a sponsorship agreement and is a victim of domestic violence by her
current sponsor in Canada.
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a woman who sponsors a conjugal partner who begins to abuse her before the termination of the
sponsorship agreement.
The
table below highlights key areas of the legislation and the common law (judge-made-law) which fall
short of protecting immigrant and refugee women facing male violence. It also suggests
recommendations for improving the legislation, based on a brief prepared by the National
Association of Women and the Law Ad-Hoc Committee on Gender Analysis of the Immigration Act,
which was submitted to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Legislation |
Shortfalls |
Recommendations |
I. Definition of refugee – Ar. 95
A convention refugee is a person who, by reason of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, |
The Convention definition does not include women who are persecuted on the basis of sex or women who are victims of domestic violence.
The courts have been reluctant to interpret social group to include women. But, the Immigration and Refugee Board has devised methods of protecting women and girl refugees who face gender-related persecution. |
Parliament should expand the refugee definition to include women who are victims of domestic violence and other gender-related persecution. |
II. Sponsorship
R. 111 Ar.2 |
Sponsorship obligations may continue for three years if there is evidence but no conviction, for spousal abuse. Immigrant women who are sponsored rarely report incidents of spousal abuse. |
Research, review and possibly eliminate the sponsorship system. Address circumstances within sponsorship which leave women vulnerable to abuse. Adopt mechanisms to suspend or end sponsorship obligations if there is any evidence of spousal violence. |
III. Live-in caregiver program – R Ar. 113 (1) (d) (i) |
Domestic workers are temporary residents. They must live in the home of their employers for the duration of time they are working as care-givers in Canada.
They are vulnerable to exploitation and violence in the private home. Given their insecure immigration status, this domestic violence often goes unreported. |
Eliminate the live-in caregiver requirement.
Allow domestic workers to enter Canada with a more secure status – as permanent residents. |
Legal reform
is one avenue for improving the lives of immigrant and refugee women facing violence. However, it cannot be
effective without systemic change within the criminal justice system and ongoing human rights and legal
education campaigns directed by and for immigrant and refugee women. Additional resources are also required
for culturally-sensitive and anti-racist social, legal (eg. legal aid) and medical services which reflect the
needs and experiences of immigrant and refugee women facing violence.
References
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (2001) c.27 (“the Act”).
National Association of Women and the Law (March, 1999) “Gender Analysis of Immigration and Refugee Protection
Legislation and Policy.”
Smith, Ekuwa (March, 2004) Nowhere to Turn? Responding to Partner Violence Against Immigrant and Visible Minority Women .
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