Exit Trafficking: The Crime Transcending Borders and Awareness

It's a crime on the rise that transcends borders and involves deception, but there's little awareness about exit trafficking, even among those experiencing it.

That was the case for Rupali, who has chosen that name to protect her identity.

Warning: This story describes family and domestic violence.

In 2023, Rupali came to Canberra on a temporary visa in an arranged marriage, with dreams of building a new life and family. But last year, she experienced domestic violence that escalated.

"[My husband] has been monitoring and micro-managing me and my whereabouts. He opens my letters addressed to me. He confiscated my bank statements. He has also taken screenshots of my personal messages sent to my family as he knows my phone's password," the woman in her 20s said.

Letter comes as 'shock'

Rupali said later, as she was planning to visit her home country, she was told by her husband "not to book return tickets as he wanted to go to a neighbouring country along with me for a holiday".

"I believed in him," she said.

But Rupali was deceived, and while she was out of the country, her husband demanded a large sum of money, saying otherwise he would quash her plans for permanent residency.

She was on a temporary partner visa and believed she needed his sponsorship.

In the background, though, he had already made moves to withdraw that sponsorship.

"To my shock, I read a letter referring to the [Department of Home Affairs] that he was withdrawing his sponsorship … unbeknownst to me as we were still in my home country at that time."

Most cases of exit trafficking involve domestic and family violence similar to that experienced by Rupali, according to advocates.

And a migration agent said perpetrators had both cruel and exploitative motives.

Calls for more funding to address crime

Vanessa Burn at the Women's Legal Centre ACT has been a registered migration agent for more than 20 years.

"I'm seeing things from where one partner might expect that their wife should return back [to their home country] and have that caring responsibility for her in-laws. I'm also seeing that families are … trying to get more money out of a dowry," Ms Burn said.

"But it also just might be that this person doesn't want that woman in their life anymore and just wants to abandon them … perhaps find a new partner down the track, but also prevent them from having access to the laws that they're entitled to access in Australia, in terms of family law."

Ms Burn said her work with migrant women was funded by the Commonwealth, through money the Attorney-General's department had allocated to community legal centres over a five-year period.

It is estimated that one in three women who are on temporary visas experience domestic and family violence.

"[The funding] has never been enough and it remains that way. And, given that we can see that there's a spike in things like family violence, exit trafficking — it's underfunded."

Ms Burn said even if migrant women sought help, they were often left with nothing — that was what happened to Farah.

'Only here to provide him money'

Farah, as she has asked to be called to protect her identity, believed she was beginning a new life in Canberra after an arranged marriage to a man who was an Australian citizen.

Instead, her offender used her temporary visa status to perpetrate abuse.

"I asked my husband to provide supporting documents to assist me. [He] refused to accept my request to assist me regarding a subclass 100 visa and he said to me that I only came here to provide him money from my work, not to become a permanent resident," Farah said.

"[I] earned more than $50,000 that I put into our joint account … He threatened me to give him all of my income, otherwise he would divorce me," she said.

Now in safe locations in Australia, Farah and Rupali are applying for permanent visas under family violence provisions with the Department of Home Affairs.

A Home Affairs departmental spokesperson told the ABC the "department contacts all [visa] applicants via their provided contact details when a sponsor withdraws".

But few people have been charged with the crime, and one advocate has said perpetrators are using their children to silence victim-survivors.

Threats to split mums, children

Gulnara Abbasova, who is head of Settle Services International's Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Prevention and Response team, said quite often migrant women were on temporary visas while their partners and children were citizens.

"Perpetrators can be quite familiar with the migration system and, as I said, weaponise it."

"The threats of being separated from children is such a huge fear for the women who are in those circumstances. And, of course, they're not fully aware of what [Australian laws, protections and support services] they have access to."

Ms Abbasova said such examples of migration-related abuse — especially where a victim-survivor is unaware of what visa she is on because it is controlled by a perpetrator — were seen frequently in her practice.

But she said there were also plenty of stories for hope.

Woman escapes, starts new life

Ms Abbasova gave a "not uncommon" example of a woman who had now rebuilt her life in Australia after escaping exit trafficking and an abusive marriage.

"So you can see elements of coercive control, elements of almost modern slavery."

Ms Abbasova said the woman, aged in her 20s, was told she was going on a holiday, but instead her perpetrator took her overseas and stole her passport.

"Her husband was the first point of contact for immigration. It wasn't her. So she was really concerned that all the information in terms of her visa status in Australia was going to him," Ms Abbasova said.

The woman was eventually supported by Legal Aid to return to Australia and she has since been granted permanent residency.

It is an outcome Rupali is yearning for, but she knows her visa application could take up to a year to be assessed. It means she cannot yet put her ordeal behind her.

"I have experienced enough torture from [my perpetrator]. I feel stuck in this relationship. My mental health has been significantly affected," Rupali said.