Safety Denied: Migrant Women and the Politics of Domestic Violence in the UK and Europe

This paper examines the persistent gaps in protecting migrant women from domestic violence across Europe, focusing on the United Kingdom’s Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (DAA). The Act (DAA) marks a major step forward in tackling domestic violence, yet it notably excludes one of the most vulnerable groups: migrant women. This omission is striking because the DAA also served as the vehicle for ratifying the Istanbul Convention, which explicitly requires states to provide independent residence permits and adequate protection for migrant victims. By fulfilling most aspects of the Convention but neglecting this obligation, the legislation inadvertently deepens the precarity of migrant women, leaving them without the safeguards guaranteed under international law. Adopting a transnational feminist framework, this paper situates the UK’s approach within a broader European landscape where exclusionary migration regimes and uneven implementation of the Istanbul Convention reveal structural inequalities. Through a comparative analysis of selected EU member states -specifically Spain, Sweden, and France- the paper highlights convergences and divergences in approaches to migration and the protection of victims of gender-based violence. This comparison reveals the complex interplay between migration governance, populist politics, and patriarchal structures. The paper further examines the broader human rights implications of failing to protect migrant victims of domestic violence, extending the analysis beyond the Istanbul Convention to include relevant case law from the European Court of Human Rights. In doing so, it demonstrates how a rights-based approach provides a powerful lens for understanding the issue within contemporary European gender politics. The paper argues that safeguarding migrant women from domestic violence must be regarded as a European political and moral obligation rather than merely a national policy choice or humanitarian effort. Ultimately, it calls for renewed transnational feminist solidarity and a reaffirmation of Europe’s human rights commitments in an era marked by rising populist nationalism and increasingly restrictive migration policies.