Leadership in Action Project Week 1: In Service of Immigrant Women in Sydney
My first week volunteering/interning at Immigrant Women’s SpeakOut Association of New South Wales (SpeakOut) has been incredibly eye-opening and a time of growth.
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This summer, I am in Sydney, Australia, volunteering/interning with the Immigrant Women’s SpeakOut Association of New South Wales (SpeakOut). The community I am primarily working with is immigrant women, many of whom are Afghan immigrants as well, which works very well in coordination with my research that I did last summer through Laidlaw, focusing on Afghan American immigrants.
My work this summer does feel different than the research I did last year, as it is more of a 9-5 commitment with commuting back and forth from the organization’s location. However, I do feel that working at SpeakOut does inherently go back to my research with a more broader connection. Part of my research last summer was on the historical context of the emigration out of Afghanistan, starting with the Soviet-Afghan War, as a proxy war of the larger Cold War conflict. Many women who come to the office are Afghan, some who left during that period, and others who left after the onset of violence in the 1980s.
Although in Australia, at SpeakOut, the people I interact with are Australian immigrants, similar patterns of immigration can be drawn with the Afghan immigrant population in the US due to the shared historical context. Furthermore, with other migrant groups that visit the organizations, it is very interesting to note the various immigration cycles from other areas of the world. But perhaps what is most interesting and heartbreaking about working at SpeakOut is interacting with many women who are not only migrants and refugees but also survivors of domestic violence.
Since my first day at the office, I have furthered my understanding of Australia's migration policies toward temporary migrants. In Australia, as part of their immigration policy, there are various partner visas, which are under the category of Temporary Visa Holders (TVHs). There are many temporary migrants, especially women, who also face domestic violence in addition to the hardships of being an immigrant in the country as well. Nationally, in Australia, a report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) estimates that 10.5% of the population are Temporary Visa Holders (TVHs). 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," according to a report from the DVNSW. Thus, there is a significant population in Australia of immigrant women who experience domestic abuse and face extremely difficult situations, not only as immigrants but also as individuals with limited rights and opportunities in Australia, specifically due to the nature of their temporary visas. SpeakOut works to aid many of these women who come to the office or are referred to them by other organizations.
Thus, through volunteering/interning at SpeakOut, I have come to understand Australian migration policy better, in addition to the doubled hardship many women face as not only immigrants but also survivors of DV. My first week at the organization was one of much learning and understanding of Australian migration policy, so I can better help and support where I can, in the greater mission of the organization, in the service of the immigrant women who come there to seek help and support. I am looking forward to the work I can do as part of this organization, and I am ever grateful to the Laidlaw organization for extending its support to enable me to partake in this opportunity.
Elaheh Khazi
(She/Her)
Laidlaw Scholar , Columbia University
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