Thank you very much.
I also want to thank the committee for the opportunity to speak about the issues facing immigrant women.
Yellow Brick House is located in York region. We provide emergency shelter and counselling services to abused women and children.
Just to give you the scope of the work we do, last year alone we worked with over 6,300 women and children. We are seeing a tremendous increase in immigrant women seeking our services, and we have adapted internally to be able to provide services in the over 30 languages that our front-line staff currently offer.
I also want to take this opportunity to give you a bit of a picture of what's happening in York region. In 2006 York region was reported to have the highest immigration population growth rate in the GTA. In fact, it is the fastest-growing regional municipality in Canada. The newcomers who are most likely to have immigrated are from South Asia, China, the Middle East, Southeast Asia such as the Philippines, South Korea, and the Russian Federation.
Currently 45% of our population speak a mother tongue other than English or French. It's estimated that about 50,000 people in York region do not speak even one of those two official languages. The vast majority of newcomers to our region are identified as visible minorities and have racialized identities.
That is our current picture in York region. I now want to share with you some of the experiences that these women are facing in our community.
In regard to some of the issues they face, there are many countries around the world that continue to be characterized as entrenched patriarchies, with power disparities between men and women, both within the family structure and within the broader society. That's supported by culture, the social values, and religious beliefs. Many cultural practices that are socially acceptable in their countries are actually violating the rights of women in Canada, according to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Men who perpetrated violence against women in those countries were doing it because it was culturally acceptable. They were never charged or convicted, so when they're applying for immigration to Canada, the fact that they may actually be active abusers is never taken into consideration. There is a tremendous amount of stress associated with settlement services in the integration process, and for men who already have a tendency to that behaviour, that can often escalate the violence in the family.
There is an absolute lack of orientation for new immigrants about the laws pertaining to domestic violence against women and children. The family structure and traditional gender roles continue to describe many cultures. They are often encouraged not to pursue education or employment opportunities, so the man tends to be the breadwinner in the household. The woman is financially dependent on him.
In many cultures, unfortunately, young women are seen as a commodity to be bargained with, through arranged or forced marriages. Underage girls, many of them under the age of 10, are often forced into marriages with much older men or sold into human trafficking. This is happening with disturbing frequency. We're getting young women in our shelters who at the age of 16 have already been married for several years and have children.
In some cultures women are perceived as carrying the family honour, which is controlled and protected by men. If a woman is perceived to have dishonoured the family, she may be assaulted, or as we've heard mentioned, killed through honour killing. A woman who leaves her abusive partner would be considered to have dishonoured her family and could potentially become a homicide victim.
If a woman is fleeing a violent home with her children, she is not only fleeing her abuser. She is also fleeing the extended family, both his and sometimes her own.
In some cultures, girl children are unwanted. If a woman is pregnant with a girl, she is often forced to terminate her pregnancy.
We are also hearing that in many cultures the mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law are also becoming the abusers. They are controlling their daughters-in-law and training them in how to become good wives, with a specific focus on keeping family matters very private in order not to cause shame to the family.
We also know that many new immigrants settle into neighbourhoods where other immigrants live who share their culture and language. This leads to social isolation for women and children.
It's also known that children are disciplined more heavily, harshly, and physically in many of these cultures because it's accepted in their specific cultural norm.
Women who are not educated or employable would likely not be admitted to Canada, so their spouse becomes the principal applicant. They come to Canada as sponsored spouses or family members, and they're economically dependent.
We are seeing an increased number of Filipino women who typically have their employer as their sponsor. As many as 95% of Canada's live-in caregivers are Filipino women whose isolation, living conditions, economic dependency, and legal status create conditions ripe for the perpetration of violence and abuse.
If a woman is considering leaving her abusive partner and she's sponsored, her abuser will threaten her with deportation. If children are involved, he will get to keep the children and she will be returned to the country of origin.
I think we heard before that the new immigration laws are making it increasingly difficult for women living in violent homes to get free. Under these conditions, a woman who migrates to Canada as the spouse or partner of a principal applicant is required to cohabit with her sponsor for two years. She needs to provide proof of this if she decides to leave. She must also call in to the CIC call centre to report abuse. If a new immigrant woman leaves an abusive relationship and she has not collected this evidence, she is facing deportation.
If a refugee claim is denied, the woman does not have access to humanitarian or compassionate reasons for a period of 12 months to reapply, unless it's in the best interests of a child. Unless you're from a non-designated country of origin, meaning an unsafe country, you have very tight timelines to prepare for a hearing: 30 to 45 days. If you're denied, you can go to the refugee appeal division, but you need a lawyer to make an appeal at the Federal Court. This needs to happen within 15 days of the initial rejection.
Human trafficking is another growing problem. Human trafficking victims have a reduced chance of getting temporary resident permits if law enforcement is not involved in their particular case.
We have an increase in abduction of children by the abusive partners, where they leave Canada and drop the children in the countries of their origin. Women are left behind in Canada with no recourse to get their children back.
Intimate-partner violence is the leading cause of non-fatal injury to women worldwide. Musculoskeletal injuries—