About the GBV-MIG Project, 2019-2023

GBV-MIG Ireland was part of a multi-country study, funded by EU Gender Net Plus and the Irish Research Council that commenced in 2019 and concludes in 2023 (including a 12 month extension due to Covid-19). It has involved research partners in France, Austria, Canada, Israel, and Norway. The main focus of the project was to investigate the experiences of gender-based violence in migration contexts. It aimed to understand what factors increase risk of or vulnerability to gender-based violence and what resources are available to women and other migrants affected by GBV to protect themselves and access their rights and the supports they need. The project has sought to understand how policies and relevant practitioners can reduce women’s risk of, or vulnerability to, gender-based violence in their different migration trajectories and experience.

The international coordinator of the project was Prof Jane Freedman, Université Paris 8. The principal investigator (GBV-MIG Ireland) was Prof Niamh Reilly, University of Galway. Contributors to the GBV-MIG Ireland research project included Dr Vesna Malesevic (2019-2023), Dr Salome Mbugua (2022-2023), Dr Nasrin Khandoker (2021-2022), Dr Nina Sahraoui (2019-2020), Dr Orla McGarry (2020-2021), Dr Anne Egan (Summer 2021), and volunteer Gowri Chandrasekhar (Autumn 2020).

Mixed methods research:

• Comprehensive review of national policy literature relating to migration and GBV
• Interviews/consultations with representatives from nine key NGOs including: AkiDwA; Doras Luimni; Immigrant Council of Ireland; Mayo Rape Crisis Centre; Migrants Rights Centre Ireland; Nasc Migrant and Refugee Rights; National Women’s Council of Ireland; Safe Ireland; Women’s Aid
• Twenty-two semi-structured interviews with migrant women, reflecting different immigration statuses and countries of origin, conducted in 2021-2022.

Research outputs to date:

N. Reilly, M. Bjørnholt & E. Tastsoglou, “Vulnerability, Precarity and Intersectionality: A Critical Review of Three Key Concepts for Understanding Gender-Based Violence in Migration Contexts.” In J. Freedman, N. Sahraoui, & E. Tastsoglou, eds., Gender-Based Violence in Migration. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.

N. Reilly et al., Violence against Women Migrants and Refugees: Analyzing Causes and Effective Policy Response, poster series for 25th International Metropolis Conference, Berlin, 4-9 September 2022.

N. Reilly, N. Sahraoui & O. McGarry, “Exclusion, Minimization, Inaction: A Critical Review of Ireland’s Policy Response to Gender-Based Violence as It Affects Migrant Women,” Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 17 June 2021.

N. Reilly, “Hidden Ireland: Migrant women’s right to rights,” Cois Coiribe: NUI Galway Views and Opinions, 15 June 2021.

N. Reilly & N. Sahraoui, GBV-MIG: Violence against Women Refugees and Migrants: Analyzing Causes and Efficient Policy Response: Country Review – Ireland. 2020.