Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that adequate safeguards will be included in the Domestic Abuse Bill to protect migrant survivors of domestic abuse.

This Government is committed to tackling domestic abuse against all women, regardless of their background or nationality and that is why we published a draft Domestic Abuse Bill. This draft Bill is currently undergoing scrutiny by a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

For victims of domestic abuse who are married, or are partners of, British or settled sponsors, there is the option of applying for immediate crisis support under the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession (DDVC).

In the Government’s response to its consultation on Domestic Abuse we committed to a number of further non-legislative measures in respect of migrant victims of domestic abuse. This included a commitment to consider widening the cohort of individuals eligible under the DDVC. The response is accessible via the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/772202/CCS1218158068-Web_Accessible.pdf

We will carefully consider recommendations from the Joint Committee in respect of migrant women and look forward to seeing the report.