March 8, 2024 – International Women’s Day
Women refugees fleeing on dangerous migration routes through Mexico face alarming rates of kidnapping, trafficking, rape, and murder. With limited access to safe shelter, food, and a way to survive, they often suffer sexual violence in flight.
In 2019, the World Refugee & Migration Council (WRMC) established the North and Central American Task Force on Migration to develop concrete recommendations for collective action on forced displacement in the Americas. A key recommendation was to create safe and legal protection pathways for refugee women who have suffered sexual and gender-based violence.
The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, has authorized an initiative to resettle up to 100 refugee women survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) from Mexico to Canada. Global law firm Reed Smith LLP is named as the implementing partner of the initiative.
A key focus of Reed Smith’s work has been the identification, protection, and referral of survivors of torture and/or SGBV from countries where they are at risk, to countries where they may rebuild their lives. Reed Smith has represented hundreds of refugees and asylum-seekers fleeing violence in North and Central America, Africa, and the Middle East and helped those individuals relocate to safe countries, including Canada.
Reed Smith LLP will now work with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT), WRMC, and the Government of Canada to implement this initiative, which builds on the success of the firm’s other initiatives in Europe and the Middle East.
The initiative will help provide a pathway for the resettlement of 100 refugee victims of sexual and gender-based violence, regardless of their country of origin, along with their family members; protect and support them from point of identification in Mexico to point of integration in Canada; widen opportunities for resettlement in areas beyond Canada’s largest cities; and expand and diversify funding models to support refugee women at risk.
This program will drastically improve the lives of these women and their families at-risk in Mexico. Reed Smith LLP and the WRMC hope this model will translate into additional resettlement capacity in additional countries in the future.
In authorizing the initiative on the eve of International Women’s Day, Minister Miller emphasized:
“We are committed to addressing high levels of violence in the Americas which have forcibly displaced thousands, including many women and girls, and continue to work toward better protecting and supporting those at risk. We welcome this opportunity to work with Reed Smith and other community partners to provide a safe, permanent home for vulnerable refugee women and their families living in Mexico. This is another way Canada is supporting safe, orderly, and regular migration.”
Allan Rock, former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations, and member of the WRMC, played a key role in advancing the initiative:
“Core to WRMC’s vision is the idea that studies and reports on global issues should not remain on a shelf but rather be converted into action on the ground. Thus, our commitment to this proposal to protect women at risk in Mexico, which is one of the key recommendations of our Grupo de Trabajo de Centro y Norteamérica sobre Migración.”
Lloyd Axworthy, former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Chair of the WRMC, is leading the effort to build a coalition of support for refugees who arrive in Canada:
“Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal are at the frontline for integrating immigrants in Canada. These three cities manage and provide for the needs of over 70% of migrants in the country. It is in the interest of both Canada and refugees to explore widening opportunities for resettlement in other parts of the country, including in Manitoba where public officials, agencies and local communities are eager to welcome refugees and help them rebuild their lives.”
CCVT executive director Mulugeta Abai welcomed the opportunity to protect women at risk
“Victims of SGBV who remain at risk in Mexico should have access to safety and rehabilitation, not suffer under border policies that put them at risk of more violence. This new program is a step towards alleviating horrific suffering and loss of life in Mexico. We’re thankful to be collaborating with the government of Canada, the WRMC and Reed Smith on this program.”
The head of Reed Smith’s international refugee protection programs, Jayne E. Fleming, emphasized the need for end-to-end protection for women in flight:
“Refugees often experience a cycle of trauma, violence, and insecurity that begins before migration, continues in flight, and often persists after resettlement. Without continuous, seamless protection, refugee women are at risk of more violence. Our model of end-to-end protection is resource-intensive but needed in cases involving multiple traumas across multiple countries. We’re thankful to Canada for creating space for this innovative model and we’re eager to share it as a blueprint for other countries committed to protecting refugee women.”
