International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2018 – Migrant women who face violence and abuse frequently cannot report it, particularly if they are undocumented. The current design of migration laws and policies actually increases women’s risk of violence, since the immigration status of many migrant women depends on a spouse or employer. Even in cases of abuse, leaving an abusive relationship means becoming an undocumented migrant – a person risking arrest if they report abuse and violence to the police.

While there are international human rights and women’s rights standards that guarantee access to protection and services for all, often they turn out to be just a dead letter on the paper by not being implemented, doing little to reflect the reality for those survivors of violence who are undocumented.
The pledge campaign focused on the right of every woman who has experienced violence to access protection, support and specialist services. It also emphasized that all of us need to join hands in solidarity against discrimination.

The pledge campaign ran from 2017 to 2018 and 1081 online signatures were collected. We believe this number emphasises the need for these issues to finally be put on the social justice map of Europe.

The campaign was organised by WAVE Network and PICUM.