2023-04-27 19:00:47
Arrived in Geneva in 2013 from Nicaragua, Alexia* saw a better life. “I quickly found a job in cleaning and met a man with whom it was going well.” In 2018, her children joined her and moved in with her in her partner’s apartment. The two become engaged soon following, but their relationship turns into a nightmare.
It all starts with reproaches: “According to him, I spent too much time with my children.” Then, the verbal and psychological violence sets in: the shouting, the insults towards his son and his daughter, who were 5 and 9 years old at the time. “He forbade them from spending time in the common areas of the apartment,” says Alexia.
Her companion then demanded that she resign from her job, which then brought her 1,800 francs a month. “It was little, but it gave me a minimum of independence vis-à-vis him.”
A downward spiral
Despite this painful daily life, the marriage project is never called into question – for lack of other options for Alexia. In 2020, the couple requested a wedding date from the City of Geneva and, in the process, applied for a residence permit for Alexia. Since he is Swiss and the two live together, she is eligible for a B permit.
Shortly following the request, the violence reached new heights. “He really didn’t want me to see my kids anymore. I too had to lock myself up so that he wouldn’t attack me, ”she says, tears in her eyes. The memory is still vivid. Her ordeal will last another year, until she finally has the opportunity to stay with a friend with her children. “I ran away at a time when he was away.”
“If there is a lie, it usually comes from the person who committed the violence” Marianne Halle
But his companion does not stop there, he immediately writes to the Cantonal Office of Population and Migration (OCPM) explaining that Alexia has abandoned their marriage plan. “Very soon following, I received a letter saying that I was fired.” A decision that Alexia plans to appeal to the Administrative Chamber.
For Clémence Jung, co-president of the Association of Progressive Lawyers Geneva (AJP), “this situation reflects that of many other people in the canton and in Switzerland”. People who “are forced either to remain in a violent situation to obtain or keep their residence permit, or to leave the relationship and go into hiding”. In the case of people who are married and then separated, the law still allows them to invoke “major personal reasons”, in particular domestic violence, preventing the victim from losing their license in the event of the dissolution of the marriage.
Law change expected
In March, the National Council opened a consultation on a draft law providing for extending the possibility of invoking domestic violence to people who are not married, such as Alexia. If passed, such a law would constitute “a significant improvement for migrant victims of violence within the couple”, suggests Clémence Jung.
The preliminary draft also plans to “harmonize the notion of violence”, explains Marianne Halle, spokesperson for the Swiss-immigrant contact center (CCSI). “At present, the cantonal administrations have a broad power of interpretation of the notion of domestic violence.” And to continue that “very often, this violence is not recognized by the authorities even when it is attested by specialized services”. In the case of Alexia, no mention of the violence she suffered is made in the court’s response, even though a victim support center had attested to it.
Fears of abuse
But the change in the law is not yet entirely convincing. “The law in its current form already guarantees the protection of victims,” said Michaël Buffat, UDC national adviser and member of the committee responsible for the preliminary draft.
For Clémence Jung, “this conservative position hides the fear that women will invoke violence abusively to keep their license in the event of separation”. A “sight of the mind sometimes conveyed in the press”, she adds, referring to an article by the Tamedia group, published last September, entitled: “The ‘Russian coup’, a real nightmare”.
“The article widely suggests that Swiss men are particularly at risk from unscrupulous women who would invent violence to stay in Switzerland.” The AJP filed a complaint, still under investigation, with the Swiss Press Council following the publication.
In addition, Marianne Halle continues that “the reality on the ground completely denies this fear”. And to conclude that “if there is a lie, it comes most of the time from the person who committed the violence”.
Now it is up to the Federal Council to take up the preliminary draft and the results of the consultation. He will then have to propose a definitive law to the Chambers. It is therefore under the Dome that Alexia’s future will undoubtedly be decided.
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