Battered at home, played down in policy: Migrant women and domestic violence in Australia

This paper explores the status of battered migrant women in Australian migration policy. It will start with a general review of domestic violence among migrant families as well as the historical changes in policies in response to this issue. It will be argued that the policies have been mostly shaped in order to protect non-resident women from being abused by their partners or husbands due to their uncertain residence status. However, there are still some significant concerns that are overlooked. These concerns, as will be discussed, are mostly related to underlying social, economic, and cultural factors. The current policies do not take these factors into account. When it comes to filling in the gaps by considering cultural and social factors, one needs to be aware of ideological and theoretical perspectives. By examining two perspectives a ‘universalist’ and a relativist, the paper will argue for the necessity of looking for a middle approach in addressing domestic violence against migrant women. In conclusion, by taking the moderate approach, further policy reforms will be proposed in order to fill the identified gaps in the policy.

Research Highlights► General review of domestic violence among immigrant families. ► Describing domestic Violence Provision policy in Australia. ► Historical change of Domestic Violence Provision Policy. ► Gaps and limitation of the policy. ► Ideological views.