Migrant women who report sexual violence are often confronted with a “double violence” when dealing with authorities, Amnesty International said in a report, warning that they risk being ignored, arrested or even deported when seeking protection.
Migrant women face particularly high risks when reporting abuse, Amnesty found, despite legal protections for all women, including those who are undocumented.
Many fear expulsion, with the report, published Wednesday, pointing to multiple cases where migrant women were detained after trying to file a complaint with police.
Amnesty described their treatment as a violation of both national and international law, which grants everyone the right to report sexual violence, regardless of immigration status.
“There are numerous barriers,” said Lola Schulmann, Amnesty international’s justice and gender advocacy officer. “Women without legal status can be arrested or expelled, even though they came to the police because they were victims of sexual violence.”
Other barriers include language difficulties, a lack of interpreters in some police stations and accusations that they are reporting abuse just to obtain residency papers.
Some police stations have refused to record complaints, instead directing women to file a simple report that has no legal standing, Amnesty alleged.
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