During the very first team meeting I sat in on at SpeakOut as a new intern for the organisation, the organisation’s CEO, Ms. Maria Kissouri said this phrase to the team. Although during the one-hour team meeting, there was a coverage of many different tasks and to-do items, these words were what continue to remain with me, days after my very first introduction meeting. As an American student who has come to visit Australia and volunteer at the Immigrant Women’s SpeakOut Association of NSW, the past two weeks have been incredibly insightful as I began to learn about the ins and outs of the work the organisation does, especially in the context of Australia’s immigration policies relating to immigrant women on temporary visas who have been subjected to domestic violence.

As I reflect on my experience thus far, it is now that I really began to understand the reasoning behind why Ms. Kissouri said “CATCH” instead of “KILL” that Monday morning. As an NGO that works with migrant women who have been a victim of domestic violence, SpeakOut truly embodies their mission. The intentionality of the organisation and its staff members using a word that does not inherently stand for violence instead of one that connotates extreme violence was indicated by this choice. In another conversation with the organisation’s counsellor, this week, Varsha noted that SpeakOut likes to use the word survivors not victims to truly stand for women’s empowerment. However, this intentionality and commitment to purpose goes beyond just words for SpeakOut, it is more importantly seen in the organisation’s actions and staff’s genuine efforts with women, thinking about even the tiniest of details that they do not dismiss to be unimportant, whether it be for the services they give to these women in the shelter or during well-being sessions or thinking about each and every single one of them.

Since that first meeting I sat in on a cold, cloudy Monday morning and heard these intentional words, I have only furthered my understanding of Australia’s migration policies toward temporary migrants. Upon looking into the country’s migration laws, especially as a volunteer intern at an organisation like SpeakOut, I got to understand the growing issues migrants with temporary visas face in Australia, especially women who are statistically more at risk of being subjected to domestic violence. In NSW, around 1/3 of the population is born overseas in a non-English speaking country (Domestic Violence NSW). From this population, it is estimated nearly 500,000 are temporary visa holders (excluding New Zealand citizens). Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) estimates that 10.5% of the population are Temporary Visa Holders (AHURI Report).

More importantly and alarmingly, in Australia, “over 25% of people killed in the context of domestic violence between 2000 – 2022 were born outside the country, with 12.8% holding temporary visas at the time of their death” (DVDRT). Thus, there is a significant population in Australia of immigrant women who experience domestic abuse and face extremely difficult situations, not only as an immigrant but an individual with limited rights and opportunities in Australia, specifically due to the nature of their temporary visas.

Although immigration is often mentioned in various contexts in many areas of the world more recently, especially as conservatism waves echo across the Western Hemisphere, in Australia immigrant women on temporary visas who are subject to domestic violence seldom get the attention they deserve and the support they need. However, with the time I have spent with SpeakOut, I have gained hope that there are people and organisations out there that do care and are taking actionable steps toward helping immigrant women get the respect and dignity every human being is deserving of.

Thus, I encourage every person who comes across this post to consider donating to an organization that truly embodies their mission, serving each of their clients, who each has undergone different hardships not only as an immigrant, but as a woman who has been subject to abuse and domestic violence. SpeakOut and its staff is dedicated to their mission and truly work towards bettering each of the woman’s lives, whether it be providing them with shelter, given the housing crisis in Sydney and the greater NSW area, work, food, or other basic living necessities that every human needs and should have access to.

In the words of my favourite poet, Saadi Shirazi:

Please consider donating to SpeakOut, and you too can “catch two birds with one hand,” one being helping women who are in deep need of it and the other being the name of humankind.