Not so obscure a challenge: battered female migrants and public policies in the United States and Greece
Date
2011
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Immigration is becoming an increasingly important policy concern both in the U.S. and Greece, and also in many other nations. Importantly, there is an ever-growing number of women who migrate, many of whom are undocumented. Violence against immigrant women is nearly impossible to estimate. However, immigrant women who are abused face multiple barriers to seeking legal protection from the abuse as a result of their migration status. In many cases, immigrant women are unaware of the protection afforded to noncitizens, or the legal protection is limited so they may fear deportation from being exposed as noncitizens or fear the loss of custody of their children. Those immigrants who entered the country through a family reunion program are awarded derivative immigration status, so they can join their spouses in the United States. Consequently, a battered immigrant's ability to obtain or maintain lawful immigration status may depend on her relationship to her United States citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse and his willingness to file an immigrant relative petition on her behalf. ☐ Despite the increase in female migration, there is a paucity of research on gender issues within regularization and family programs. This study sheds light on how the migration status of battered immigrant women affects their options for seeking a remedy from interpersonal violence. Moreover, this research highlights how migration policies in Greece and the United States interfere with social and legal protection of undocumented immigrant battered women.
Description
Keywords
Social services, Migration, Interpersonal violence, Gender