EU nationals who have suffered domestic abuse in UK ‘face being pushed onto streets after Brexit’

European nationals who have suffered domestic abuse face being pushed onto the streets as Brexit is carried out, frontline service providers have warned.

Women face substantial barriers to applying for the EU settlement scheme due to necessary documentation having been “destroyed” by abusive partners.

EU nationals who are not accepted to the EU settlement scheme, which endeavours to establish the immigration status of citizens from the bloc legally residing in the UK post-Brexit, will be at risk of deportation as Britain withdraws from Europe.

In their briefing on the impact of Brexit on European Economic Area nationals, Women’s Aid said the settlement scheme endangers abuse survivors due to perpetrators potentially getting rid of or withdrawing the evidence women have to provide to prove their identity and residency.

The lead domestic abuse charity, which warned that abusive partners are already using the immigration system as a “tool of abuse and control”, said settled status is only given to EU citizens who have been living uninterruptedly in the UK for five years.

Women’s Aid noted that domestic abuse survivors who have pre-settled status will not be granted an automatic right to welfare benefits – meaning they are at risk of homelessness and destitution due to being blocked from shelters or other critical services.

Adina Claire, acting co-chief executive of Women’s Aid, said: “The EU settlement scheme, in its existing form, is inadequate for survivors of domestic abuse, and puts them at further risk of harm by blocking their access to life-saving domestic abuse services.

“We urge the government to protect the safety of women escaping domestic abuse, and ensure that all survivors with pre-settled status are guaranteed their right to access public funds, and specialist legal advice to support them throughout the application process.”

The charity said “complex benefit rules” meant some abuse victims are already being wrongly denied welfare benefits.

Gisela Valle, director of the Latin American Women’s Rights Service, said the organisation supports around 5,000 women a year and a high proportion of these are domestic abuse victims.

Ms Valle, whose organisation is helping women apply for the EU settlement scheme, told The Independent: “Some perpetrators have been quite good in keeping women survivors from bank accounts or having them in lease agreements. We support women who cannot prove that they have been residing in the country because they do not have the documents to prove it.

“Another barrier is related to passports. In other countries, a father’s signature is required to get a new passport for a child so children will not have a valid passport due to the woman having escaped the man. It is then impossible for children to apply for the EU settlement scheme.

“Another issue is the fact people aren’t certain of the [deadline] date because the Home Office hasn’t been very clear and the Brexit process also has not been very clear.”

Ms Valle, who explained the charity helps many women from Italy, Spain and Portugal, as well as those from Latin American countries, warned the Brexit process could put survivors’ lives at risk.

Language barriers and ignorance about British infrastructure compound the problem and make survivors “the most likely to be left behind” by the EU settlement scheme ahead of its June 2021 deadline, the campaigner added.

Ms Valle raised concerns that domestic abuse victims living on the streets are at risk of further violence – adding there will be “a lot of cases” where abuse victims will be forced to go back to perpetrators due to that being the only way to find accommodation.

She called for the government to ensure protections are available for migrant women regardless of their immigration status and no domestic abuse survivors are discriminated against – especially when “there is a risk of harm and sometimes even a risk to life”.

The warnings come after research by campaign group the3million published last month revealed thousands of EU nationals are already being denied employment, housing and other basic rights if they cannot verify their “settled status”.

A report by Women’s Aid released last week revealed that nearly two thirds of referrals to refuges for domestic abuse victims had to be declined last year due to a “sustained funding crisis”.