A Vicious Circle

This report draws on Maternity Action’s research in this area and experience of advising migrant women who have been charged for their NHS maternity care. It highlights the ways in which VAWG can push women into destitution, lead to pregnancy and subsequent NHS charges;  be a cause of women losing their immigration status and becoming chargeable for NHS care. It also outlines how NHS charges can trap women in abusive relationships as the debt and the threat to their immigration status is used to control them.

By Scarlet Harris and Johanna Hardwick for Maternity Action