日益嚴峻的國境管控、更為歧視性的政策、每下愈況的惡劣工作條件，以及被視為罪犯的對待──這些是現今全球經濟蕭條下，婚姻移民所面對的景況。

在國際婦女節，AMM♀RE─「全球婚姻移民女性權利與培力行動網」─呼籲停止對婚姻移民的家庭暴力、廢除所有對婚姻移民不正義與歧視性的法令與國家壓迫。

新自由主義全球化造成了一九三０年代經濟大恐慌以來最大的金融風暴，使得勞動階級人民的權益陷入絕境，而其中半數為女性。更有甚者，全球化利用現今的危機以剝奪更多人民的財產、壓低工資與使購買力降低、解雇勞工、鼓動彈性僱用方式、踐踏勞工權益、打壓勞工的抗爭，以及激化對勞動階級的剝削。

如同1857年三月八日於紐約市率先發動抗爭，以要求減短工時、提高工資與投票權的工廠女工一般，當代的女性勞工持續捍衛自己在家庭與職場的經濟權與人權。

婚姻移民的議題已成為新自由主義全球化政策惡果下形成的另一現象。婚姻移民女性因母國的貧困與動盪而被迫逃離，以跨國婚姻的方式追尋更好的生活，但她們往往被污名為淘金者，為了金錢甘願嫁給甚至比自己父親更老的男人，或者被標籤為「假結婚、真打工」。這些污名使得婚姻移民的處境更加艱困，激化歧視與種族主義。對婚姻移民的暴力已令人髮指，一九九○年代上半葉在澳洲甚至已造成許多婚姻移民死亡。

近日在南韓，一名長期受丈夫家庭暴力之苦的柬埔寨十八歲女性，為保護自己與懷胎三月的孩子免於毆打而刺傷先生，因而於2009年一月三日被逮捕。她的丈夫於二月四日於醫院不治身亡，目前這名柬埔寨女性仍被羈押。

顯而易見的，這是一個為我防衛而傷人的案例。如同在南韓的許多婚姻移民女性一樣，這位柬埔寨女性面對長期身體、語言暴力和非人性對待。根據南韓性別平等部2007年研究家暴案件，17.7%婚姻移民嫁給韓國男性之後，曾遭受肢體暴力，這是個韓國政府必須正視的問題。

為了聲援這名柬埔寨女性，南韓的外籍移工聯盟Dasom Coordinating Body將於國際婦女節在「烏山移工中心」(Osan Migrant Center)舉辦教育論壇，參與者將包括菲律賓與其他國籍的婚姻移民女性。

類似的事件，以及對婚姻移民的漠視，也存在於其他國家。

南洋台灣姊妹會指出，在修法之前，外籍配偶於取得身份證之前離婚就必須離開台灣，即便離婚是因不堪家庭暴力，她們因而被剝奪子女的監護權。在移民／住人權修法聯盟(移盟)多年的倡議修法後，移民法終於2007年底修訂，然而，移盟仍指出修訂後的移民法仍有許多不足，包括受家暴而離婚的外籍配偶必須持有效的保護令，或者有子女的監護權，才能延長居留，而無法立即獲得永久居留權或公民權，因此她們的權益和福利無法得到保障。此外，未取得身份證的婚姻移民在工作上亦受到歧視，包括未被納入就業保險法與勞工退休金條例、在母國的學歷不被認可…等等。來自中國大陸的婚姻移民受到更嚴重的歧視，例如必須經過更長時間才能取得工作權與身份證；而取得身份證後的十年內無法擔任何層級的公職。

要求修法改善大陸配偶的運動仍持續進行著。三月六日，移盟將聲援大陸配偶在立法院的抗議行動。
此外，在日本，申請永久居留簽證的婚姻移民必須面對更嚴格的規定、等待更長的時間。現有法令對婚姻移民有偏見，尤其在離婚和日籍丈夫過世的情況，非日籍的妻子立即失去延長配偶簽證的權利。家庭暴力的比例也日益升高到令人憂心的地步，但提供支持和保障受害者的機制仍非常難見，或者不夠完整。
三月八日，日本的菲律賓籍移民／工女性組織(KAFIN)將加入當地工會組織的行動，並標示出婚姻移民議題的重要性。KAFIN並將組織其他菲律賓裔團體，於三月十四日在東京與「東京Gabriela婦女組織協調委員會」聯合舉辦婦女論壇，論壇的發言人包括受家庭暴力的婚姻移民女性。日本在地的組織也將受邀參與論壇，並藉此讓日本的團體認識AMM♀RE。
在澳洲，「移民女性嗆聲協會」(Immigrant Women’s Speakout Association)指出，移民局在婚姻移民必須住滿兩年且必須證明婚姻的真實性後，才會核發永久居留身份。在此兩年等待期間對婚姻移民來說是最艱苦的日子，他們缺乏關於權益、職業健康和安全等訊息，以及政府的各項服務。這使得她們更易受家庭暴力，以及在職場上的剝削、恐嚇與性騷擾的威脅。
暫時的居留身份也使得在澳洲大部份的婚姻移民是契約與臨時工。在此金融風暴之際，仍處暫時居留身份的婚姻移民往往是最早被裁減的員工。

AMM♀RE成員團體將於三月七日在雪梨參與國際婦女節遊行，隊伍將由市政府遊行至海德公園。
AMM♀RE─「全球婚姻移民女性權利與培力行動網」的創立是為了回應婚姻移民所面對的日益艱困的處境。在此全球女性歷史性的日子，我們婚姻移民行動網的所有成員誓言將持續推動爭取婚姻移民權利的抗爭。我們要求：

終止對婚姻移民的暴力！
終止歧視、國境管控與國家壓迫！
還給所有遭受暴行與剝削的婚姻移民應有的正義！

國際婦女節萬歲！
女性勞動者與婚姻移民萬歲！

More stringent border control, more discriminatory policies, harsher working conditions and criminalization: these are what marriage migrants face under the current global recession.

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the AMM♀RE (Action Network for Marriage Migrants’ Rights and Empowerment ) calls for a stop to domestic violence against marriage migrants, end unjust and discriminatory migration law, and repression of states to marriage migrants.

The neoliberal policies of globalization that brought about the largest financial shock since the Great Depression, persist in devastating the rights of ordinary working people, half of which are women. Even worse, globalization is using the present crisis to appropriate more of the people’s (real) wealth, erode and press down on wages and social spending, lay off workers, promote precarious employment, tear up workers rights, clamp down on workers concerted actions and intensify the exploitation of the working class.

Like the women factory workers who staged the first protest on 8 March 1857 in New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights, present day women workers continue to fight for their economic and human rights against violence at home and at work.

The issue of marriage migrants has become another phenomenon that arose from the evils of neoliberal globalization policies that in the first place pushed women to escape poverty and turbulence in their home countries. In their desire to improve their living conditions through marriage migration, many women find themselves suffering the stigma of being branded as opportunists who married ageing males that are even older than their father or who only use marriage to work in richer countries. This stigma worsens the situation of marriage migrants and intensifies discrimination and racism. The violence against marriage migrants has become very extreme that it had caused many deaths in marriage migrants in the first second half of the 1990s in Australia.

A recent case in Korea involved an 18-year-old Cambodian woman who had been suffering from habitual domestic violence and was arrested on January 30, 2009, on charge of inflicting physical injury to her husband while trying to protect herself and her three-month unborn child from his beating. On Feb. 4, the husband died in hospital and she is currently held in custody.

Clearly, this is a case of self-defense against persistent physical, verbal abuse and human degradation which a considerable number of marriage migrants experience in Korea. According to the Ministry of Gender Equality's 2007 research on cases of domestic violence, 17.7% of marriage migrants married with Korean men have experienced physical domestic violence – a situation that should be addressed by the Korean government.

In solidarity with the Cambodian marriage migrant, the Dasom Coordinating Body in Korea will organize an educational forum for the entire community as the International Women's Day Celebration on March 8 to be held at the Osan Migrant Center. Expected participants include some Filipino women married to Koreans and other nationalities and the members of the Osan Migrant Coordinating Body.

Similar incidents and similar disregard of marriage migrants’ rights happen in other countries.

According to the TransAsia Sisters Association in Taiwan (TASAT), for a long time, foreign spouses who got divorced before they obtained citizenship had to leave Taiwan, even if the divorces were due to domestic violence, and hence they were deprived of custody of their children. After years of campaign by the Alliance for Human Rights Legislation for Immigrants and Migrants (AHRLIM), the amendment to the Immigration Law was approved in late 2007. However, AHRLIM still find the amendment unsatisfactory, because it only allows divorced foreign spouses who are victims of domestic violence with valid temporary protection order, or who are granted custody of children, to extend their stay in Taiwan, without being given permanent residency or citizenship and consequently their rights and welfare are not protected. Besides, marriage migrants without citizenship are discriminated in workplace, because they are not included in Employment Insurance Act and Labor Pension Act; and their credentials in home countries are not recognized in Taiwan. Marriage migrants from Mainland China experience even more discrimination, such as that it take much longer time for them to granted rights to work and citizenship. They are not allowed to be government employees at any level in the first ten years after they are naturalized as Taiwanese citizens.

Campaigns to amend the laws regulating marriage migrants from Mainland China are continuing. In fact, on March 6, AHRLIM will support the protest action by the group of Mainland Chinese marriage migrants inside the legislative Yuan.
Meanwhile, in Japan, marriage migrants applying for permanent visa find stricter rules and have to wait for much longer period to get their visa. Existing laws in Japan are biased against marriage migrants, especially in the event of divorce or death of the Japanese husband where the non-Japanese wife automatically loses her right to extend her spouse visa. Incidence of domestic violence has also reached alarming proportions yet mechanisms to support and protect the rights of the victims are inadequate, if not hard to find.
On March 8, the Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN) is planning to join with a local labor union and hopefully to highlight the marriage migrant issue. The group will be leading Filipino organizations on March 14 in a Women’s Forum to be held in Tokyo, jointly organized by KAFIN and Gabriela Coordinating Body in Tokyo. Target resource speakers include marriage migrants who are victims of domestic violence in Japan. Local groups have been invited to join the forum which also serves as an opportunity to highlight AMM♀RE .
In Australia, the Immigrant Women’s Speakout Association reported that the Immigration Department considers granting permanent residency to marriage migrants after two years of genuine relationship. The two-year waiting period is the toughest time for marriage migrants. They are not able to access information on their rights, employment, workplace health and safety, and other government services. These make them vulnerable to domestic and family violence, exploitation, bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Due to their temporary residency status, marriage migrants in Australia are mostly in casual and temporary jobs. During this period of financial collapse, retrenchment usually goes first to marriage migrants who are in temporary residency.
In Sydney, AMM♀RE affiliates will join the International Women's Day march on 7th of March, Saturday from Town Hall to Hyde Park.
The AMM♀RE was formed to respond to the worsening situation of marriage migrants. For this historic day for women, we in the AMM♀RE vow to advance the struggle for the rights and wellbeing of marriage migrants. We demand:

Stop domestic violence against marriage migrants!
Stop discrimination, border control and state repression!
Justice to marriage migrants who are victims of cruelty and exploitation!

Long Live the International Women’s Day!
Long Live the Women Workers and Marriage Migrants!