Mr. Chair, and honourable members of the committee, thank you for inviting us today.
We would like to focus on two aspects. We would like to highlight the common barriers faced by newcomer women, and I'm sure many witnesses have mentioned similar aspects, and present recommendations for protecting spousal sponsored women.
Reh'ma Community Services was established in 1999 to provide linguistically and culturally relevant services for seniors, women, and newcomers. Over the past decade, we have done many projects on domestic violence that inform our position for this submission. I will briefly mention specific areas that are relevant.
We have realized that to assist women to come out of domestic violence, it is equally important to empower them to become financially independent. Through our skills training program, Reh'ma Food Enterprises, a one-year certification program, we focused on culinary skills development and business management, enabling many women to break the barriers of employment and join the workforce.
However, we find there are continuous challenges which many of our clients face. These include language barriers. Women do not find employment because of language barriers. Most of our clients shared that ESL and LINC classes are not sufficient for employment. They fear using public transportation, which can restrict their mobility and access to resources and services, making them socially isolated. The language barrier brings greater dependency on their sponsors. Women with good spoken English interact well with others and have greater understanding about their rights and the services available.
In a foreign land without English, they may become vulnerable to abuse. We recommend that specialized English classes that are tailored to immigrants' vocations are needed. Publications, web-based portals, and a helpline number on reporting abuse and where to seek assistance should be in diverse languages. With the help of ethnic print and television media, women should be given information about their rights.
Next are economic barriers. Newcomer women find it difficult to get employment because of lack of accreditation and lack of Canadian education and work experience. The skills they come with are not enough or relevant to the labour market needs. Without employment, they are financially dependent on their sponsors. Women who have sponsored their husbands may face further vulnerability if their husbands leave them and seek social assistance.
We recommend that before their arrival, they be given information on skills and jobs that are in demand. We also recommend that after they arrive, they be given information and access to skills development programs that are in accord with labour market needs.
There are also settlement difficulties. Women find it very hard to settle down if they do not have a family or a support system. There is an ongoing need to give them relevant information and referral services. Newcomer women find it difficult to live in a legal limbo as they are often worried about their permanent residence status. Family separation brings several emotional problems.
We recommend that settlement funding for organizations should be reconsidered. Free access to legal services with interpretations should be available for them, and the focus should be towards family unification with less processing time.
I would like our president, Mrs. Talat Muinuddin, to brief the committee about cultural barriers.