IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joimai/v25y2024i2d10.1007_s12134-023-01102-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Journey of Violence: Refugee Women’s Experiences Across Three Stages and Places

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriela Mesquita Borges

    (Lusiada University of Porto
    University of Minho)

Abstract

This article examines violence experienced by refugee women across three distinct (geographic and symbolic) stages and places: in their countries of origin, during the displacement journey, and in the country of asylum. Drawing from a criminological and gender perspective, 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with refugee women, 14 women were from the Middle East, and 10 women were from Africa, currently residing in Portugal. This study focused on understanding the individual dimensions that provide insight into women’s meanings, intersubjective constructions, and perceptions of their refugee process, using the narrative paradigm. Grounded theory and abduction approaches were used to focus on participants’ active construction of meaning. The research highlights that individual memories of harm and suffering among refugee women are profoundly influenced by encounters with gendered, structural, and symbolic forms of violence. The article presents a three-part analysis of women’s violence narratives, shedding light on their processes of becoming refugees.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriela Mesquita Borges, 2024. "Journey of Violence: Refugee Women’s Experiences Across Three Stages and Places," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 673-693, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:25:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s12134-023-01102-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s12134-023-01102-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-023-01102-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12134-023-01102-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Suzan Ilcan, 2021. "The Border Harms of Human Displacement: Harsh Landscapes and Human Rights Violations," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Sebnem Koser Akcapar & Dogus Simsek, 2018. "The Politics of Syrian Refugees in Turkey: A Question of Inclusion and Exclusion through Citizenship," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(1), pages 176-187.
    3. Sevda Akar & M. Mustafa Erdoğdu, 2019. "Syrian Refugees in Turkey and Integration Problem Ahead," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 925-940, August.
    4. Sebnem Koser Akcapar & Dogus Simsek, 2018. "The Politics of Syrian Refugees in Turkey: A Question of Inclusion and Exclusion through Citizenship," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(1), pages 176-187.
    5. Yumna Asaf, 2017. "Syrian Women and the Refugee Crisis: Surviving the Conflict, Building Peace, and Taking New Gender Roles," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-18, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sedef Turper & Saime Özçürümez, 2025. "Developing a Multidimensional Measure for Understanding Refugee Integration in Protracted Displacement Contexts: Evidence from Turkey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 176(1), pages 29-50, January.
    2. Zafer Özkan & Ayberk Eryılmaz & Naif Ergün, 2023. "Intentions to Return and Migrate to the Third Countries: A Socio-Demographic Investigation Among Syrians in Turkey," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1571-1587, December.
    3. Lucy Fiske & Linda Briskman, 2021. "The Impossibility of Home: Displacement and Border Practices in Times of Crisis," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-7, October.
    4. Carolyn Chisadza & Matthew W. Clance & Romuald Meango & Charl van Schoor, 2025. "Women's Agency in Conflict Settings: Evidence from Peace Agreements," Working Papers 202510, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    5. İsmail Hakkı Mirici, 2018. "Syrian refugee women’s profile and their expectations in their host country: a case study in Turkey," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 1437-1443, December.
    6. Emmanuel Achiri & Mustapha D. Ibrahim, 2022. "Efficiency Analysis of Syrian Refugees’ Healthcare Services in Turkey and Other 3RP States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-16, November.
    7. Ugur Yetkin & Deniz Tunçalp, 2024. "Refugee Entrepreneurship: Resolving Multi-contextuality and Differential Exclusion," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 194(4), pages 887-913, November.
    8. Sevda Akar & M. Mustafa Erdoğdu, 2019. "Syrian Refugees in Turkey and Integration Problem Ahead," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 925-940, August.
    9. Neeltje Spit & Evelien Tonkens & Margo Trappenburg, 2025. "The Emotional Costs of Solidarity: How Refugees and Volunteers Manage Emotions in the Integration Process," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
    10. Islam, Md. Tariqul & Sikder, Sujit Kumar & Charlesworth, Mark & Rabbi, Atta, 2023. "Spatial transition dynamics of urbanization and Rohingya refugees’ settlements in Bangladesh," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    11. Wonder Mafuta & Jethro Zuwarimwe & Marizvikuru Mwale, 2021. "WASH Financial and Social Investment Dynamics in a Conflict-Arid District of Jariban in Somalia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-15, April.
    12. Punam Yadav, 2021. "Can women benefit from war? Women’s agency in conflict and post-conflict societies," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(3), pages 449-461, May.
    13. Ulrike Hamann & Gökçe Yurdakul, 2018. "The Transformative Forces of Migration: Refugees and the Re-Configuration of Migration Societies," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(1), pages 110-114.
    14. Dunya Habash & Naohiko Omata, 2023. "The ‘Private’ Sphere of Integration? Reconfiguring Gender Roles Within Syrian Refugee Families in the UK," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 969-988, September.
    15. Khraisha, Qusai & Sawalha, Lama & Hadfield, Kristin & Al-Soleiti, Majd & Dajani, Rana & Panter-Brick, Catherine, 2024. "Coparenting, mental health, and the pursuit of dignity: A systems-level analysis of refugee father-mother narratives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    16. Steven Gronau & Brigitte Ruesink, 2021. "What Makes Me Want You Here? Refugee Integration in a Zambian Settlement Setting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-19, July.
    17. Musallam Abedtalas & Wissam Aldien ALOKLAH & Abdulhamid ALAWAK & Abdulnaser ALJASEM & Rohat SHEIKH ESMAEEL ZADA, 2021. "Top-Down Naturalization: Turkish Government Propensity and Syrian Refugee Attitudes," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 12(2), pages 45-57.
    18. Scott Feinstein & Cristina Poleacovschi & Riley Drake & Leslie Ann Winters, 2022. "States and Refugee Integration: a Comparative Analysis of France, Germany, and Switzerland," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 2167-2194, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:25:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s12134-023-01102-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.