Addressing legal concerns of international students
Address legal concerns specific to international students, including whether reporting sexual assault could impact the immigration and/or visa status of the complainant or respondent. These issues should be addressed both in the policy itself and in educational materials and information sessions.
International students in a number of focus groups expressed uncertainties and deep concerns about the impact involvement in a sexual assault investigation could have on their immigration or visa status. In order for international students to feel comfortable and to be safe navigating university SV/SA policies and services, they must be provided with information about which aspects of these systems could have visa or immigration-related implications.
Delving Deeper Resources
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Understanding how immigration policies shape gender-based violence among immigrants who have a temporary or precarious status (Bhuyan & Pintin-Perez, 2020)This VAWS Learning Network webinar provides context for student's concerns about how university sexual assault policies relate to immigration status.