Temporary Migration and Family Violence: An analysis of victimisation, vulnerability and support

This report draws on detailed cases of 300 women who sought the support service of InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence over 2015–16. The findings lay the ground for a range of potential interventions and improved responses for this group of women, on the basis of significant data that details the specific impact of migration status on the experience of family violence and access to support. While in this study migration status does not align exactly with immigrant and refugee status, there are often issues that are relevant across both groups: related to cultural and familial practices and living arrangements in particular. As this report details, migration status often adds a layer of complexity and, most often, uncertainty, for women. Further, the report points to other significant concerns that extend beyond the specificity of temporary migration – in particular, the overlap of family violence and forms of coercion and abuse that are akin to Commonwealth trafficking and slavery offences.