I loved him and he scared me: Migrant women, partner visas and domestic violence

Abstract

This study considers the experience of migrant women engaging with the Australian Department of Immigration through the Family Violence Provisions (Migration Regulations, 1994). These provisions allow women applying for partner visas to remain in the country after separation, if they can prove they experienced domestic violence. Forty semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty migrant women from diverse backgrounds, focusing on their experiences of intimacy and violence and their emotions regarding the relationship. Using the Listening Guide methodology, data was analysed focusing on women's voices and the emotions concerning this subject. This paper considers Australian Immigration Law's requirement of a ‘genuine and continuing relationship’ and how it engages with women's emotions. The study argues that there is a distance between women's emotional responses to their relationships and immigration demands for proof and emotional consistency. The result is that women's emotions are dismissed by the same immigration system that has been historically shaped by emotions towards immigrants. The article ends by proposing that women's stories and emotions are valuable sources of information for visa processes and indicates countries where, in some cases, immigration laws already engage with women's emotions as reliable sources of information.