Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Provides Protections for Noncitizen Women and Victims of Crime

With approximately 23 million immigrant women and girls in the United States, over half of the foreign-born population is female. Unfortunately, women are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence. Issues such as domestic violence, human trafficking, and exploitation in the workforce present unique challenges to noncitizen women due to the added vulnerability created by their immigration status in the United States. For these and other reasons, federal law provides numerous forms of protection for noncitizen women—and men—who are the victims of domestic violence or other qualifying crimes.

This fact sheet provides basic information about three of these forms of protection: “U” visas for victims of crime, “T” visas for victims of severe forms of trafficking, and “self-petitions” under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).