Please read Joyce's story.
*We have taken steps to protect the client's identity by changing her name and details of her story. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Joyce was born in Papua New Guinea (PNG). When she was 16 years old, Joyce’s family arranged for her to marry a stranger. Her future husband’s family paid Joyce’s father a big sum of money for the marriage to go ahead. Joyce was treated like property, and she was seen to belong to her new family, since they had paid a bride price for her.
Sadly, this practice remains prevalent in PNG, which is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman: family violence is endemic in the country and perpetrators are rarely prosecuted.
Joyce’s husband regularly abused substances and quickly became physically violent towards her. She sustained serious injuries.
He was also controlling and threatened to make Joyce’s family return the high bride price he had paid for her if she ever left him. She was a prisoner in her own home, unable to seek help from her family and unable to access support systems for women fleeing family violence, as there were none available in her village. She also could not turn to the police because in PNG, domestic violence is seen as a normal aspect of married life and police rarely act to protect women.
By 25, Joyce had not experienced an adult life without violence, and she lived in constant fear for her life.
After suffering for many years, Joyce made the brave decision to try to flee to another village. Over and over again, her husband would come to the village and physically drag her back to his own village. There was no one to stop him.
During one of her attempts to flee her husband, Joyce managed to travel to Australia on a visitor visa. It wasn’t until an Australian nurse referred her to RAILS, after noticing bruising and scarring on her body, that she was aware of her rights and was able to open up about the abuse she had suffered. Joyce had a right to apply for asylum and be recognised as a refugee in Australia, on the basis that her life would be in danger if she returned to PNG.
Joyce was then faced with navigating the incredibly complex process of applying for a refugee visa. She had to do so in a language that is not her own, facing strict deadlines and needing to provide as much detail of her traumatic experiences as possible. Joyce could not have gone through this process without legal assistance.
RAILS represented Joyce throughout her protection visa application: referred her to appropriate support services, gathered evidence of her experience of family violence and provided detailed legal submissions to the Department of Home Affairs, RAILS also attended Joyce’s protection visa interview alongside her, and provided post-interview legal submissions to answer the questions from the Australian Immigration department.
Joyce’s refugee visa was granted 16 months after her application was made. The grant of her refugee visa meant that she would not have to ever return to danger in PNG and could escape her abuser for good.
There are other people who are suffering through similar experiences. We need your help to ensure that we can help as many of them as possible.
Access to expert legal assistance through the application process gives people like Joyce their best chance of telling their story and making their case in front of immigration authorities.
The incredible lawyers at RAILS work hard to give free legal help to people who, just like you and I, want to live in safety and see their children grow up happy and safe. RAILS is the only community legal centre in Queensland that specialises in refugee law: we are, for many, the only chance to have a lawyer stand by their side during a complex and distressing process, which can genuinely mean the difference between life and death.
If you donate before August 31st, EthicalJobs.com.au will match it and your impact will be DOUBLED. Please, follow the link below and choose an amount that you are comfortable with.
DONATE HERE: https://chuffed.org/project/ethicaljobs-rails-matched-donations
Sources:
1. World Report 2023: Papua New Guinea | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)