by Olivia Burgess

As we close #16DaysOfActivism and we mark #HumanRightsDay, we want to shine a light on the huge but hidden problem of criminalisation of victim/survivors of violence against women and girls (VAWG). 

The criminalisation of victim/survivors of VAWG means that women who have experienced abuse and exploitation are being failed. Instead of being provided with help to leave the situations they are in and support to meet their basic needs (including housing, food, and healthcare), they are often ignored or disbelieved. Black and minoritised migrant women may also face insurmountable barriers to accessing support, such as by being prevented from accessing mainstream services due to their immigration status or finding that services have not been designed with them in mind and so are unsuitable. 

Many of these women will be forced into committing offences, either those by abusing and exploiting them, or because they are left with no other ways to meet their basic needs. Others will experience their abusers weaponising the criminal justice system or immigration system against them, using it as a threat to ensure their compliance or making false complaints. Instead of being recognised as potential victim/survivors and provided with support by the police or immigration authorities, Black and minoritised migrant women are routinely viewed only as potential perpetrators. They are criminalised and forced into the harmful CJS.  

Within the CJS, access to basic human rights becomes limited. This is particularly the case for Black and minoritised migrant women for whom existing systems of discrimination are replicated. For example, over 80% of women in prison report having mental health problems, with Black and minoritised women less likely to seek help and more likely to experience a lower quality of healthcare compared to white women. From our frontline work, we know that many women are unaware that they have the right to legal advice, and do not know how to access it. Letters and important documents (including those relating to immigration and criminal proceeds) are provided without translations, meaning that many women do not know what is happening in their legal cases. The impact of this is that victim/survivors simultaneously experience the harm of the CJS, without any of the support to address their trauma and recover, or rebuild their lives. 

Ministry of Justice data shows that close to 70% the women in prison or under community supervision are victim/survivors of VAWG. Based on conversations with service users and research by other specialist organisations, we believe the this is likely a significant underestimate. For Black, Asian, racially minoritised and migrant women, the barriers to disclosing abuse are even more severe, including fear of disbelief, destitution, or deportation. As a result, the true scale of abuse they experience is likely even higher. Despite this, victim/survivors of VAWG continue to be criminalised. 

The criminalisation of victim/survivors of VAWG is not a new issue. In the nearly 40 years Hibiscus has supported Black and minoritised migrant women, we have seen the clear causal link that it has to women entering the CJS. In recent years, the issue has gained more visibility thanks to the work done by organisations such as the Centre for Women’s Justice and Hibiscus. At this moment, we are witnessing a diversification of the methods abusers exploit the CJS to the detriment of the women we support. For example, anecdotal data from organisations working in the end VAWG sector have shared a worrying trend of an increase of counter allegations resulting from a lack of understanding of the power dynamics of abuse as well as systemic racial stereotypes against Black and minoritised migrant women. 

It can be easy for the human rights of the most marginalised people in a society to be ignored. The rise in far-right, racist politics and sentiment has allowed the human rights of Black and minoritised migrant women to be sidelined to make room for harsher criminal justice and immigration policy and enforcement. Because of this, it is more important than ever to recognised that we cannot have human rights for some, and not for all. 

The unjust criminalisation of victim/survivors cannot be understood without an intersectional approach. It is a form of VAWG in which the CJS is complicit, and its impact on Black and minoritised migrant women is devastating. It must be recognised, acknowledged and addressed.