MCWH is calling for meaningful investment in migrant and refugee women’s health and wellbeing in the next Victorian budget.
Women and girls born overseas in a main non-English speaking country (MNESC) make up 25.8% of Victoria's female population. While Victoria continues to lead the nation in measures for gender equality, many policies, services and investments for equity still leave migrant and refugee women behind. For Victoria to truly achieve gender equality and feel the benefits of gender equal investment, we can't ignore the diversity of our population.
MCWH is led by, for and with migrant and refugee women. We have the expertise, experience and workforce infrastructure to vastly improve sexual and reproductive health, workplace safety and fairness, mental health and violence prevention for migrant and refugee women and gender diverse people. With dedicated and sustained government investment, we can support the equitable participation of Victoria's migrant and refugee women in our workforce, economy and civic life, to ensure that all Victorians can move ahead together.
In our budget bid, we propose 5 key areas for investment to ensure a more equitable future for migrant and refugee women in Victoria:
- We need to keep up with population growth, diversity and complexity
- Migrant women and gender diverse people need equitable access to sexual and reproductive health
- We need increased mental health support and prevention programs tailored for migrant women and gender diverse people
- Gender equality, primary prevention and early intervention gendered violence programs should be tailored for multicultural communities
- We need to ensure workplace safety, equity and fairness for migrant and refugee women and gender diverse people