Violence against women migrants and refugees (GBV-MIG GNP 42)

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is a major infringement of womens human rights. This project is analyzing the ways in which discriminations and inequalities based on gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, identity, religion, and age interact and make certain women especially vulnerable to SGBV. Conflict and the risks of migration may render women vulnerable to trafficking and sexual exploitation. SGBV may be also exacerbated by migration control policies, which can push women into choosing dangerous routes to arrive in their country of destination. Conditions of reception, and policies for integration in receiving countries can also have an impact on the risk of SGBV for migrant and refugee women. But these women are not just victims. Their strategies and agency also needs to be explored in order to develop successful measures to prevent and counter violence. This project will make a societal impact by providing a systematic understanding of dynamics that (re)produce patterns of violence. This will enable the formulation of policy recommendations for reducing these womens vulnerability to SGBV and increasing their access to support structures.

Violence against Women Migrants and Refugees: Analyzing Causes and Effective Policy Responses (GBV-MIG) Sieglinde Rosenberger/Principal Investigator of the UoV team Summary Gender-based violence (GBV) is a major infringement of women's human rights. Although GBV against migrant and refugee women is widespread, it often remains invisible, both in academic research and policy-making. The research project 'Violence against Women Migrants and Refugees: Analyzing Causes and Effective Policy Responses' investigated GBV in the context of migration, analyzed the ways in which violence and discriminations based on gender, ethnicity, nationality interact to make refugee women more vulnerable to GBV and less able than others to access support and services for survivors. In Austria, the issue of GBV tends to be exacerbated by policies aimed at restricting migration movement, which can push women into adopting dangerous routes to arrive in their country of destination. Increased control of borders may also render women vulnerable to trafficking and sexual exploitation. Poor conditions of reception and accommodation in receiving countries can also pose a risk of GBV for refugee women. While we know that women refugees are particularly exposed to violence, we lack a systematic understanding of the underlying structures and dynamics that (re)produce patterns of gender-based violence. At the University of Vienna, we were concerned with three strands of research: First, a country report provides an overview on the policy and legal situation, state and NGO actors in the field of GBV against women migrants and refugees. The report illustrates the availability of support structures for this target group in the event of GBV. In addition, it points at some of the dominant discourses and identifies major shortcomings that prevent women from access to relevant infrastructure. Second, we investigated the public and political discourse on GBV against women refugees by conducting a frame and policy analysis. The chapter investigates how political actors and the media frame gendered violence against migrant women by analyzing discursive interrelations between migration policies and policies to counter gendered violence. Drawing on the concept of gender nationalism and based on media and public policy material, the analysis elucidates how the framing of 'their' violence becomes established by identifying cultural peculiarities as underlying a phenomenon assumed foreign to the host society. We demonstrate how strategies of culturalizing as problem definition and individualizing on the level of solutions strengthen gender-nationalist narratives and underlie restrictions and sanctions in migration policy. Finally, we mirrored insights on discourse and policies with interviews conducted with practitioners from national and local actors, such as NGOs and local communities.