Projects

Venezuelan women victims of gender-based violence: their regularization and protection.

Regularize and protect: International obligations for the protection of Venezuelan persons.

Why is it essential to prioritize the migration regularization of women victims of gender-based violence?

What do we want to change?

Since February 2018 and until April 2023 more than 7.32 million people had fled Venezuela due to the complex humanitarian emergency and massive human rights violations occurring in the country. 70% of that population is located in four Latin American countries: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Chile. According to surveys conducted for the Refugee and Migrant Needs Assessment (RMNA), more than 70% of these people reported different situations of violence, such as intimate partner violence, forced early marriages or unions, and other forms of physical and sexual violence. The lack of a residency document in the countries where they arrive becomes a new risk and greater vulnerability for these women, since without it they cannot access health care, a job, housing or many other rights that need to be protected, exposing them once again to situations of violence.

What is our contribution?

Pur-ple conducted a research, together with Amnesty International, on the accessibility, effectiveness and protection provided to Venezuelan nationals by the migration regularization, complementary and temporary protection programs of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Chile. The report pays special attention to the situation of Venezuelan women survivors of gender-based violence, whose lack of protection is exacerbated by the lack of recognition of their international protection and status needs. The report is a key input to improve regularization programs and policies and to respond to the current needs expressed by migrant women themselves.