Navigating the Family Law Provisions: Migrant Women’s Voices
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Australian College of Applied Psychology
Australia
Abstract
This article considers the voices of migrant women engaging with Home Affairs to guarantee permanent residency (PR) in Australia after experiencing domestic violence. Data collected from longitudinal interviews with 20 participants were considered, with two participants’ stories analysed in detail. The research indicates how the legal immigration system is set up in a way that does not listen to women and disadvantages them. Particular issues pointed out include extended timelines, lack of concern for cultural differences and inconsistencies in the process, and how they affect women undermining the goal of the law, which is to protect migrants from sponsors’ violence.
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Author Biography
Dr Ana Borges Jelinic graduated in Psychology with Honours at PUC-SP in Brazil. She holds post-graduation qualifications from Griffith University and the University of Queensland (UQ). In 2020, she finished her PHD at the T.C. Beirne School of Law, UQ. The PHD research thesis is titled, ‘Migration and Domestic Violence: Women’s experiences of proving domestic violence as a requirement for permanent residency in Australia’.
She is a member of the management board of Women’s Community Aid Association (WCAA) and a Lecturer and National Educator at the Australian College of Applied Psychology (ACAP) in the discipline of Counselling.